Metasite
by MaeRiCk
Summary: AU SQUINOA Squall is a metasite, an ultrapowerful human with a creature living within him. Bit of a different twist on the FF8 story hope u guys like it CHAPTER 19 IS UP!
1. Chapter 1 A metasite's world

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
Summary: AU Squinoa fic, my first attempt at writing fan fiction. Squall is a metasite, a human with a creature living within him which grants him many extraordinary powers and abilities. Please read and review thanks!  
  
Chapter 1: A metasite's world Squall's POV  
  
Another typical morning. Nothing out of the ordinary... the nice room, the service, the food, the women...all so ordinary.  
  
I live in Galbadia Garden. I've lived here for the last eleven years. The Headmaster Martine is constantly on the lookout for new metasites and he tracked me down when I was eight years old. My parent's were reluctant to let me go to the Garden at first but eventually, they believed it was all for the best.  
  
When I got to the Garden, I didn't go to school like the other kids. Instead, I went to a special class where all the metasites went. Most of us didn't even know we had such a power lurking within our bodies. What did we know? We were young, naive, and innocent. We were fools. Scientists and experienced metasites taught us how to activate the metasite and how to use the various abilities that the metasite gave us.  
  
Guess I forgot one big thing huh? You're probably asking yourself right about now "What the HELL is a metasite?". Well, a metasite is a parasitic creature that lives within a host. This however is a mutualistic symbioses. In other words, both the host and the parasite are happy. The metasite cannot live on it's own so it seeks out a host (usually humans). The human grows normally and the metasite grows along with it. The metasite can also provide the host with some "pay back". Some hosts go through their entire lives without knowing they are a metasite. Others, find out accidentally and unleash their power by mistake. The most obvious power of a metasite is a organic armor that wraps itself around the host and gives the host strength. This is the basis of all the other powers of a metasite, energy blasts, increased senses and strength, wings, healing, and other goodies. The main weapon of a metasite is the metablade, a weapon that is unique to each and every metasite. MY metablade is a pistol grip single edged sword known as Lionheart. Well, that's what I am and that is where my story starts.  
  
Like I said, I've spent almost all my life at Galbadia Garden and I've made quite a name for myself. When I was young, people all told me that I had a VERY powerful metasite and that my talent with a blade was absolutely astounding. I loved all the attention and how fun it was sometimes at night just to sneak out at night and fly from rooftop to rooftop like the whole Galbadia was just a huge playground. But like you probably know, things get old. And although I haven't gotten bored of my metasite powers, I HAVE gotten bored of all the attention. Eventually, I just drifted off into isolation and that's how I got my nickname, the Lone Wolf. People just could not leave me alone...I needed a change...  
  
AN: OK, there's my first chapter. Sorry if it starts out slow, but the rest of the story just won't be understandable if I didn't at least explain some of the background. Next chapter will be more eventful =) Please R&R thanks in advance! 


	2. Chapter 2 War and Boredom equal Tough D...

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
Chapter 2: War and Boredom equal Tough Decisions Squall's POV  
  
I woke up as usual to the sound of the alarm clock ringing in my ears. I had stuff to do today. Which was rare, since normally nothing happens around here that concerns me. I had to get suited up and ready to go see Martine in about 10 minutes. More than enough time.  
  
The uniform they had me decked out in was ridiculous. Elite uniform my ass. Sure the girls loved it but Hyne it was just so uncomfortable. I spent a total of about 3 seconds at the mirror combing my hair. It was getting long, with strands that go down to my chin. I pushed the thin strands out of my cold steel blue eyes and looked into the scar that ran just between my eyes. I've had that scar for as long as I can remember and I have no clue how the hell I got it. Funny huh?  
  
Anyways, Martine asked me to go to his office again. Damn bastard. He's telling me about a raid and how I'm not allowed to go AGAIN. There's not enough action around here. Martine just makes all the crap-ass metasite's fight in raids and shit like that and the elite's like us don't get to do anything. There's absolutely no more challenge anymore. Okay, who cares if I could wipe out half the rebels by myself? That's no fun, and what's even more boring is just sitting around doing nothing. The rebels are a group of people who oppose the main government which is of course run by Martine. Those guys actually built themselves a pretty nice garden and are putting up a decent fight but Martine's won it once he sticks all his metasites into the fight. The rebels have some metasites as well, but no where near as strong as ours. Martine's just toying with em' right now, he knows he's won. But he's a strange man and I hate strange guys...  
  
Anyways, Martine won't even let me fight anymore and now all I do is sit around playing video games or something. It's so sad...I'm stuck here day after day, hour after hour without any friends since everybody here just treats me like some sorta huge celebrity or something so noone will be my friend, plus I won't let anyone be my friend.  
  
Well, that was a nice meeting. It lasted 30 minutes and half the time he was sipping his coffee. Now he just kicked me out with a swift "Enjoy yourself" and I'm back to my boring life. I decided just to go back to my dorm since I really didn't feel like training today for some odd reason...  
  
I can't stand this anymore, it might sound like a great life, but take it from me, it sure as hell isn't. I gotta get away from here. I'm walking down the halls and three different girls are giving me frickin idiotic looks, guys are saluting me, and all these instructors are asking me to be their demonstration guy for their next class. "It would be a great honor" they say, pfft who needs it?  
  
Ok, I'm getting the hell outta here and I don't give a shit what Martine or anyone else thinks. They can't stop me.  
  
AN: Still a slow chapter that just explains things. But Squall will meet Rinoa and her friends in the next chapter. Please R&R! 


	3. Chapter 3 The real world

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine. AN: Thanks for all the reviews everybody! I didn't expect anything to tell you guys the truth =P well, here's chapter 3 hope u guys like it. Oh and I'm gonna make my chapters longer =)  
  
Chapter 3: The real world Rinoa's POV  
  
"Rinoa!" it was the voice of the nanny we had for the last 8 years, Irene. "I'm coming! Hang on!" it was a normal Monday morning and I was getting ready for school. My dad's the general of Balamb Garden so naturally, I went there for school. I'm kinda sick of people who just stereotype me as the general's daughter and think I'm just the useless "damsel in distress". So I trained like hell and became one of Balamb Garden's best SeeDs.  
  
Most of the time my dad isn't at the garden though. He usually stays at home or is on business trips to other parts of the world. So I get my ride from my next door neighbor and friend Irvine Kinneas. Irvine is the best SeeD at Balamb Garden. He's a sharpshooter but he's also quite skilled at sword fighting. On the way to school, we pick up his girlfriend and my best friend Selphie Tilmitt. A super energetic girl with energy to waste.  
  
This morning was no different. I rushed down the stairs and out the door while Irene hastily shoved some toast in my mouth. Irvine's sports car was parked outside our mansion and he had his hand lazily resting on the windowsill. I jumped in the backseat and we headed for Selphie's house. "Hey Irvine" I greeted between bites of toast. "Mornin'" somehow, he always tried to act like a cowboy. From his hat to his accent, Irvine was one hundred percent genuine western. Selphie came bouncing out of her house to and climbed into the back seat to join me and we were off to school.  
  
"Hey Rinoa! We're gonna be late!" Selphie said this every morning. But this time she had some truth behind her words. Even though instructor Trepe is one of my best friends, it didn't stop her from giving me detention. Selphie and I burst into the classroom DURING the bell and earned a nice "Good Morning" from Quistis Trepe, our instructor who taught weapon's history. Quistis was the youngest instructor at Garden, brilliantly gifted and strikingly beautiful, she was the object of many of the guys' affections.  
  
Today, we were learning about Metasites. The extremely powerful beings that were the backbone of our army as well as the Galbadian army. The Galbadian army called us "Rebels" for some reason 'cause we didn't bow down and lick their shoes. "Metasites are humans that host a creature within them. They can call upon this creature at any time and create a sort of armor. Nobody knows exactly how metasites are created and the only evidence that someone is a metasite is a single scar somewhere on their body." I was copying furiously as she said this just like everyone else in the class.  
  
"Geez why doesn't she give us photocopied notes on this stuff instead of making us copy?" whispered Selphie. "Yeah I know what you mean" I mumbled and then returned to copying down notes. "Metasites have extremely fast healing and they heal any wound in a matter of seconds so even deep cuts don't leave scars which is why they only have ONE scar on their body. Metasites are controlled via the brain and humans that host them sometimes go crazy since it's very hard to keep control of something so powerful." Quistis just went on and on. At the end of the class I had 3 pages of notes (which actually isn't that much since I write very big).  
  
The next class we had was Physical Training. We were supposed to run laps and do push ups and sit ups to help us in our fighting. We all changed into our t-shirts and shorts and were just about to run laps when the instructor (Bayres) stopped us for a special announcement. Selphie just got out of the change room cause she's slow and she looked like she was gonna have a heart attack. "Hot guy! Hot guy!" she kept stammering. I rolled my eyes and laughed at her while at the same time wondering who this guy was that got Selphie so excited. "Hey you two! Snap back to reality will ya? I've got an announcement to make!" Instructor Bayres glared at us. "Alrite, we got a new student in our class. Please give a warm welcome to Mr. Squall Leonhart."  
  
AN: OK there's chapter 3, I know I missed some stuff as to why Squall is all of a sudden at Balamb and why Irvine isn't in class like Selphie and Rinoa. But I'll clear things up in the next chapter! Please R&R! Constructive Criticism is welcome! 


	4. Chapter 4 From one place to another and ...

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
AN: OK Thanks CTHKSI for reviewing that last chapter I know that chapter sucked lol but oh well, what can u do eh? Haha well, hopefully I can make it up with this chapter! Enjoy.  
  
Chapter 4: From one place to another and everything in between Squall's POV  
  
I ran away from Galbadia Garden. I still can't believe I did that...To tell the truth, I didn't have much trouble getting outta there. I'd have thought those guys were better guards than that. They only covered the main entrances and nothing else, so all I did was activate my metasite and jump out the window. Sound crazy? Maybe for a normal human but not for me. To me, it was like going down the stairs hehe.  
  
Anyways enough of my cockiness. I didn't want to go to Galbadia (the city, not the Garden) 'cause everybody there would probably know me. I needed to go to a place that less people knew me and I could spend one night.  
  
You see, the problem is if anybody from Galbadia Garden finds me, I have to go back. It's the rule. I signed up for Garden and now I have to abide by their stupid rules. Another rule is that if another Garden accepts me, then I didn't have to go back to the Garden I was in before.  
  
So I had 3 other choices for Gardens. Trabia, Esthar, or Balamb. Now, Trabia's an old dump and the technology is way below the others although it's a neutral Garden (which means it's not under the control of the main government or the rebels). Esthar is really big. Probably the biggest Garden there is. Really new too, it only opened this year. However, it's run by the government which means I'll probably have to fight side by side with those bastards from Galbadia Garden. Balamb is the only one which I haven't visited before. I have no idea what's in that Garden since all I've seen of it are pictures of the outside. It looks kinda like a big bubble with a big disk on the bottom that spins around to make it hover. All I know is that it's the Garden run by the rebels.  
  
I decided I'd go to Balamb Garden and take a look at that place. I'd like to see how the rebels do things and it's the only one which I mildly WANT to go to.  
  
To get to Balamb Garden, I had to pass through Deling. Deling was a big city which was controlled by the government. It had a reputation as being a sort of "tough neighborhood". I don't really give a damn so I decided to stay at Deling for one night and then go to Balamb Garden the next day.  
  
Getting to Deling's the easy part. One bus ride and I'm there, it only takes about an hour. I got to Deling at around 7:00 pm. The street lamps were just starting to turn on and people were going back home. Geez this place was big, it took me half an hour to find a hotel that I could stay in. I went inside this place called "CityScape", it was supposed to be some mid class hotel. I went to the chick at the counter and asked if they had a room.  
  
"Yes we do sir, how many nights will you be staying?" She said all this while batting her eyelashes like crazy.  
  
"Just one" I responded pretty coldly but she kept the eyelashes going.  
  
"One? Alright that'll be 50 gil please." Damn it why'd she have to do that eyelash thing? I handed over the cash.  
  
"Oh by the way, you know any good restaurants around here?" I didn't feel like walking into a random diner and eating some crap food.  
  
"Yes, there's this place down the street in this little alley. It's called 'Hell's Bistro' and it's really good!"  
  
I thanked her and headed out the door to this 'Hell's Bistro'. I found the place no problem. It was a pretty small place which had tons of big guys inside it. Point is, it was a rowdy bar and I got there early so not many bad folk were there...yet.  
  
I went inside and ordered a burger and a coke. Once I stepped in, my metasite instantly scanned the surroundings and I took in every detail of the room and the people in it. I was easily the smallest guy in the room. There were some guys arm wrestling at one table and the other tables were full with some bike gang.  
  
The food was good and nobody bothered me since I didn't say anything and I was sitting in a corner. Corners are always the best place to sit since you can see everyone and noone can sneak up on you. I tipped the waitress and walked outside. I went into the restaurant at around 9:00, I came out at about 11:30 since they had a band playing and I wanted to relax a little.  
  
Well, a dark alleyway in Deling is not somewhere you want to be at 11:30. I knew it too. I was walking down the alleyway when my metasite alerted me of two guys standing in a corner who looked like trouble.  
  
Sure enough, they started coming towards me. My metasite eyes could see one of them holding a knife, hell, my metasite eyes could read the writing on the knife's handle.  
  
"Hey kid, me n' my bud are kinda thirsty and you look like you got some dough on ya" Oh so they were trying to rob me. I could have laughed.  
  
"Sorry, I got no cash" I decided to give em a chance to smarten up. They didn't take it. The guy shows the knife and smirks like he was hiding it the whole time. I made a look of surprise on my face just for the hell of it.  
  
"I'm sure you got something NOW" he said it with this grin all plastered over his face. I decided it was time to end it.  
  
I activated my metasite and felt the armor wrapping around my body. I knocked the knife out of the guys hand before he could even see my arm move. Then I drew Lionheart. FWAP FWAP! Two blows so fast that the air cracked as the blade went through it. I hit both guys with the flat of the blade and sent them into unconsciousness.  
  
I took off the armor and walked back to the hotel. Tomorrow would be a big day...  
  
AN: I'm making my chapters even LONGER now hahaha funny, it always seems long when I write it but when it comes out, it's short again *shrug* weird. Well, this chapter had a little bit of action in it just to show you guys the power of a metasite =) Please R&R!!! 


	5. Chapter 5 Starting from scratch

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
AN: Hey thanks to Hanh, SquallJechtLeonhart, CTHKSI, and Rhi-an for reviewing the last chapter! SquallJechtLeonhart, in time, my friend, in time. Hehe eventually you'll get the description hahaha I left it out on purpose ~_^  
  
Chapter 5: Starting from scratch Squall's POV  
  
Today was my big day. My chance to get away from my previous life at Galbadia Garden. I spent last night thinking about what I would tell Balamb Garden to get them to accept me. I thought of lying to them and telling them that I was just a farm boy that moved out to get a better education but I knew that eventually they'd trace my life back to Galbadia Garden and I'd get kicked out.  
  
After about 50 million different stories, I finally decided to tell them the truth but request that noone but the top instructors and the headmaster know about my past. To anyone else, I really AM a farm boy. Boy, I really hope they'll allow me to give the rest of the people that bull about me being a farm kid.  
  
I walked downstairs into the lobby and went up to the front desk. Luckily, the eyelash-batting receptionist wasn't there. Instead, I was greeted by an old guy who looked like he had a stick shoved up his ass.  
  
I checked myself outta the hotel and proceeded to the restaurant since they had this breakfast buffet that was free to everybody who stayed at the hotel. Not that I give a damn whether or not it's free, I was loaded. It pays to be an elite metasite in the government's army, I had a fortune built up since most of my stuff was payed for by the government anyway.  
  
The buffet was crap, but I didn't really care. I didn't expect much from a complementary thing so it doesn't matter to me. I headed for Deling Train station.  
  
I got onto the train that would get me to Balamb. It was still really early in the morning (too early in fact since I wanted to get there before class started) so the train was practically empty. I took a normal cabin to myself since I had enough of the high class SeeD cabins.  
  
Half and hour later, I arrived in Balamb. I was almost right on time and I would get to the Garden before the students went to class. It was 7:30 and class starts at 8:00. The walk to Balamb Garden from Balamb only took about 10 minutes.  
  
I approached the front gates and was stopped by 2 guards. "Hey, school hasn't started yet and if you're a student may I please see your ID?" The guy was big and he looked tough.  
  
"Sorry, I'm not a student but I'm here to see the headmaster since I want to get enrolled here." I said it so innocently but the guy was no dumbass. He made me walk through the metal detector and had all my bags checked before he let me in. Luckily, you can't detect metasites since they're organic.  
  
Whoa, this was one helluva nice Garden. It had like a glass elevator right in the middle of it and the floors were all circular. Surrounding the first floor was a small ring of water and the roof was well lighted giving the whole place a bright atmosphere. The guard gave me a keycard for the third floor only since that's the headmaster's floor.  
  
I went up to the third floor and was immediately greeted by another 2 guards and another eyelash-batting receptionist. I walked past the guards and to the front desk.  
  
"You're here to see the headmaster?" Why do they ALWAYS have to do the eyelash thing?  
  
"Yeah, I'm here to get accepted into this Garden." I said it confidently since I was trained that sometimes if you don't say things confidently, they think you're crappy or something.  
  
"Oh! Please go right in!" she pushed a little button on her desk and the doors to the office unlocked.  
  
I walked into the office and saw the headmaster sitting in his chair with his back turned to me. He immediately turned around when he heard me enter and gave me a smile. It just came to me that I didn't even know the headmaster's name. My metasite took care of that though, it scanned the room and showed me a business card on his desk saying "Cid Kramer, Headmaster".  
  
"Good morning headmaster Cid" boy did I sound like I rehearsed it.  
  
"Good morning! Catherine out there has just informed me that you want to get enrolled here. Tell me, what is your name and where do you come from?" he sounded like a very nice man.  
  
"My name is Squall Leonhart. I come from Galbadia Garden." he nearly fell off his chair.  
  
"Galbadia Garden? I see. What rank were you at Galbadia Garden and why do you wish to transfer to their arch rival?"  
  
"I was an elite metasite in their SeeD army. I want to come here because I didn't like Galbadia Garden and the way they treated me." this was my big gamble. He could either accept me right now or kick me out. To me surprise, he smiled.  
  
"You are a very noble young man. It's not everyday someone comes along who doesn't like the good life and wants to challenge themselves. You are one of the few people that I want the most at this Garden. We'd be happy to have you Squall." I let my breath out finally.  
  
"Thank you sir."  
  
"However, I'm terribly sorry but I cannot allow you to stay in the dormitories. You will forgive me for my suspicion but it is a safety precaution that I must take." he was smart. I couldn't be trusted no matter how good my speech went. But I was curious as to where I WOULD stay 'cause I didn't want to live in any more hotels.  
  
"I will not tell the other kids about your past since I doubt you want any more attention. You will go to regular classes just like the normal kids, they needn't know that you are a metasite either." this was just what I wanted. I couldn't believe how nice he was being to me and that he also wasn't naive. He picked up the phone on his desk and dialed one number.  
  
"Hello, Catherine? Please get me Irvine Kinneas as soon as possible." he hung up and turned back to me.  
  
"Now Squall, I'm going to arrange for you to live at Kinneas' house. He is the best SeeD we have and he lives next door to General Caraway. Once again, I apologize for my suspicions."  
  
"That's alright headmaster I understand." I was just wondering who this Kinneas guy was when my metasite sensed someone approaching the door.  
  
In walked a tall handsome guy with long hair tied back in a pony tail and dressed from head to toe in cowboy clothing.  
  
" Morning sir, you wanted to see me?" He spoke confidently just like I had.  
  
"Yes Irvine, this is Squall Leonhart." I won't bore you with the details since he told Irvine exactly what I told him. Irvine kept his surprise well hidden though and he shook hands with me and was extremely nice about a total stranger living with him.  
  
"Don't worry Squall, most people don't live up at the dorms either. They all have houses in Balamb." he told me this like it was a big secret or something and I couldn't help grinning a bit.  
  
Cid told Irvine to get my stuff and dump it at his house while I went to my first class. Since he wanted me to start right away. I was more than happy to start as well.  
  
Our talk lasted a little long though so I had to go to the second class of the day Physical Training which was in the gym. Of course, my metasite found the directions in about half a second and I entered the gym coming face to face with instructor Bayres. He was a big guy who looked like he was carved out of metal or something but he had a kind aura around him.  
  
"You must be the new kid Squall. Cid already sent me a message telling me about you. It's been awhile since I had a metasite in this class hehe" he gave me a wink and told me that since it was my first day, I didn't have to change. Duh, I didn't even have the uniform.  
  
OK so the instructor was kinda stupid but I had a feeling I would be having a much better time here than in Galbadia.  
  
AN: Phew, finally done! My longest chapter yet! This chapter was kinda boring I know, but it's the first official turning point of the story so it's important nonetheless =P Well, please keep the reviews coming and as I said, constructive criticism is always welcome! Thanks! 


	6. Chapter 6 A new stranger

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
AN: Thank you to all who reviewed the last chapter. Hopefully this chapter will be better =).  
  
Rhi-an thanks for the tip about the dialog and the compliment about the detail (PS I only left out some descriptions of the character's looks on purpose ~_^) Hanh glad to know SOME people are enjoying this fic CTHKSI yeah Caraway doesn't live in Deling hahaha  
  
Ok, here's chapter 6. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 6: A new stranger Rinoa's POV  
  
Instructor Bayres just introduced the new student, the guy Selphie said was hot. He walked in through the change rooms even though he wasn't in uniform. He was wearing casual clothing, black jeans and a white T-shirt. But Selphie was right, he WAS hot.  
  
He wavy dark brown hair with longer strands combed out of his eyes. I'm glad he did that otherwise you wouldn't be able to see his eyes which were the most spectacular part about him. They were pale blue and looked almost misty, like you couldn't see through them. At the same time, they were sharp and looked like they could pierce right into your soul. His features were almost perfect but when I was looking at his face, my eyes lingered to a scar that was impossible to miss. It was diagonally down his face and unlike some other scars which are all bumpy and gross, his scar was smooth like it was almost drawn on his face.  
  
Now, there are a lot of buff guys in my class. This is the army after all. The new kid looked almost small standing next to some of the bigger guys. But you could tell he was solidly built and he felt like he radiated some sort of strange power.  
  
When the instructor introduced him to all of us he kept his face emotionless and merely nodded to us. He seemed like a strange person but he was definitely cute. I silently giggled 'cause of my immature thoughts.  
  
We had to run in the quad for ten minutes straight for our warm up. I thought that was a helluva crazy warm up and Selphie always joined me in my complaining every time we ran. Today however, she kept on saying how hot Squall was. I was laughing like crazy by the time we were done the run.  
  
"Yes Selphie, I know he's hot I got the point." I told her for the 50th time that day.  
  
"I know you know, but I just wanted to tell you one more time that's all." she was just being her usual hyper self.  
  
"You think that new kid Squall's HOT???" it was Jason. Seems like he overheard our conversation.  
  
I checked the room to see if Squall heard this comment but he was all the way at the other end of the gym climbing the rope.  
  
Jason was the typical "hot guy". He was very muscular and extremely handsome. He had spiked up blond hair all the time which looked like he spent hours on it even though he insists he only spent 5 seconds. Jason was also part of a bad group of friends who considered themselves "cool" by picking on other kids and smoking pot.  
  
"Yeah I think he's hot!" Selphie said it in a whisper since she didn't want Squall to hear but I thought it was pointless since Squall was almost at the top of the rope and all the way at the other side of the gym. But Selphie was always a little paranoid about these things.  
  
"Selphie, you got 'commander' Kinneas already don't you?" Jason said the "commander" very sarcastic but he didn't want to get kicked out of Garden so he had to address Irvine by his rank since he had no permission to call him anything else. "What about you Rinoa? YOU think he's hot?" great, he turned his attention to me. But at the same time, I couldn't help staring into his light blue eyes and thinking HE was hot too.  
  
"Oh, he's alright I guess." geez I sounded like I had asthma or something.  
  
"Alright??? He's a frickin' pipsqueak! He's like half my size!" well, it was sorta true really. I mean, Jason was easily 6'3" and had arms practically the size of tree trunks not to mention a really sexy six pack...damn it I keep drifting off like that...  
  
"Hey Rinoa, if you're not busy after school, maybe we could go see a movie?" WHAT? Was he asking me out??? Holy shit! The most popular guy at school was asking ME out???  
  
"Sure" the words were out of my mouth before my brain could even process it. Well, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I might as well take it even though Jason could be an ass sometimes. Who cares? He was a very nice guy sometimes too!  
  
"Great, meet you in the quad k? Now watch me tackle this rope!" he ran over to the rope and asked Squall to come down. Squall just slid down the rope and I was ready to hear the cries of pain that would soon be coming from him since everyone who slid down that rope got bad rope burn. Squall however landed quite awkwardly and moved onto doing chin ups. Maybe they finally fixed that stupid rope...  
  
The rest of the lessons passed by so quickly that I don't even remember what happened. It was like one minute we were in Physical Training and the next, Jason and I were going to the mall to see "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within".  
  
"For two" he said handing some gil to the lady at the ticket booth. He flashed that great smile he had and put his arm around me. Boy did I feel lucky!  
  
Anyways, the movie was pretty boring for me. Jason seemed to enjoy it though maybe 'cause he's a guy.  
  
We headed back to my house since he insisted on walking me back. "It's getting dark and you shouldn't be out here alone." he said it so sweetly. On our way back Jason met up with some of his friends. The guys I never liked. One guy pulled Jason aside and told him something that I couldn't hear.  
  
While Jason was away I couldn't help but notice a shadowy figure walking alone in the park. As it got closer I realized it was Squall. I didn't want to say "hi" or anything since we never really met so I just kept my eye on him until he disappeared from view.  
  
"Come on, let's get back to your house. It's getting chilly out here." Jason pulled out that award winning smile again and took my arm. His friends had all left.  
  
We walked in silence until we got to my huge house. Jason gave me a hug and said goodbye 'cause he had to go home for dinner. Maybe he wasn't such an asshole after all.  
  
Once I entered the house, the first thing I saw was that it had been cleaned. Everything was all tidy and everyone was at the dinner table. I ran into the dining room since I was afraid was late for dinner but no dinner was served yet. Instead, I was greeted by my father, Irvine, and (to my great surprise) Squall.  
  
"Ahhhh here's Rinoa" my father had a very curt voice and he sat straight just like all those military officers. Irvine looked confident and smart like he always did and Squall had....no expression just like in class.  
  
"Rinoa, Irvine now has a roommate who will be sharing his house with him. This is Squall. He has been living at his dad's farm his whole life and just moved out to train at Garden."  
  
"Oh I see. Instructor Bayres introduced Squall to our class this morning." I said this while he got up to shake my hand. Seems like he knows how to act in this house. My father loves formalities. One thing I found weird was that his hand had no callouses or blisters or anything. It felt smooth and this was definitely something a soldier OR a farm boy shouldn't have. I eventually figured he probably never did any work on the farm.  
  
"Squall is our new neighbor and just like Irvine, he is welcome in this household at any time. Please treat him with some respect." respect, my father loved that word.  
  
Dinner that night was pretty boring. Squall was very silent and my father always got Irvine to talk about some military thing which bored the hell outta me. Irene never talked at dinner anyways so basically, only Irvine and my father were talking.  
  
"Squall, how do you like the school?" I decided to break the ice.  
  
"It's good." that was all he said. Not too exciting.  
  
I decided to let it drop since I was no good at making conversation anyways. I just kept sneaking looks at Squall all through the dinner. I doubt he saw me since I made it look like I was getting food or drinking every time I did it. I made a game out of it, yes I really was that bored.  
  
After about an hour, Squall and Irvine finally left. I ran up to my room and fell on my bed. I was so tired.  
  
Squall really was hot...but Jake was cool and he was my new boyfriend. Looks aren't everything right? Besides, Jake is hot too. Also, I have no clue what Squall's personality is like since I just met him...  
  
Gosh, so much happened to me in one day. I smiled into my pillow. My life is finally starting to get good.  
  
AN: Well, I spent the last 3 hours working on this chapter! I'm making them much longer now. Give me some feedback on this chapter cuz I'm not very good at writing all this fluffy girl stuff =P so any girls out there, tell me if I'm doing a good job or not, k? Thanks! 


	7. Chapter 7 New allies and new enemies

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
AN: Once again, thanx to all who reviewed the last chapter.  
  
Rhi-an yeah I asked one of my female friends about that kinda stuff and she said that some girls are just obsessed with guys who are good looking and popular and stuff so...go figure hehe  
  
CTHKSI hahaha you'll see how the story develops lol I got plans  
  
Ash thanks for the compliments, it's good to see new people reviewing my fic =)  
  
SquallJechtLeonhart I called Caraway Irvine? I read the chapter over and I can't find it *shrug* oh well, you get the point =P  
  
Hanh as always, much appreciated. Who's your giraffe?  
  
bn431 like I said, good that more people are reviewing it means a lot to me.  
  
Alright, now I can get started on the story. Sorry for the long update, but I'll make it up to you guys with this chapter =)  
  
Chapter 7: New allies and new enemies Squall's POV  
  
DING it was like a sharp bell going off in my ear. I shot up straight in my bed and my hand was already on the handle of Lionheart. Then the door of my room opened slowly and Irvine came running in wearing a towel.  
  
"Ah geez, that was totally uncalled for early in the morning" I joked. I hadn't joked in a long time but I was pretty happy living with Irvine. He was a nice guy and turns out he was the best SeeD Balamb had. Naturally, Cid would get HIM to keep an eye on me.  
  
"Shaddup, I gotta find my underwear. This is stupid, I can never find my laundry basket." this guy was kinda dumb sometimes too. No idea how he made it past all those SeeD courses without being able to find his own laundry.  
  
"Aha! Found it!" he grabbed his basket and ran out of the room.  
  
I decided it was time to wake up as well. I went to the washroom, did my usual 3 second combing, brushed my teeth, and changed into my brand new SeeD uniform which was just sent to me yesterday.  
  
I went outside for my breakfast and just like every morning, Irvine wasn't ready yet. If I was day, he was night. He takes frickin' half an hour to comb his hair then he needs to take a shower and do all this other stuff to get him to look absolutely PERFECT in his opinion. Finally, after about an hour, Irvine was ready. He came out and grabbed his own piece of toast and started slowly munching it while reading the newspaper.  
  
"This is crap, there's nothing even remotely exciting. Galbadia's been awfully quiet lately." he was right of course, since I left, Galbadia really didn't launch any raids.  
  
"Yeah, and add to the fact that they don't have fifty metasites out for my blood. It's definitely strange."  
  
"Oh well, who cares? Come on, let's get to class."  
  
We picked up Selphie and Rinoa and headed to Balamb. It wasn't a long walk from the house to Balamb, but Irvine insists on giving us a ride. Neither of the girls talked very much.  
  
My first class was always the most fun the whole day. Most people hated this class, but I loved it. It was the glorious class of HISTORY. Yeah you heard me right. History.  
  
Why was it such a fun class? Well, for one thing, Rinoa sat right across from me and she was definitely something nice to look at. She was just a really pretty girl, with bright brown eyes, dark brown hair that ran down just below her shoulders, and the nicest smile I had ever seen.  
  
Apparently, Selphie and Rinoa both think I'm "hot". I overheard them talking in gym. My metasite hearing could hear a pin being dropped from about fifty feet away if I wanted to. The girls just thought I couldn't hear them since I was on the other side of the gym. I kept my face carefully expressionless so they wouldn't suspect. Rinoa also kept looking at me secretively during dinner last night. She doesn't know that I could see her eyes move onto me as easily as reading a book of course.  
  
I also heard this Jason guy ask Rinoa out. Well, that is none of my business and I don't really give a shit about other people's lives. But it still made me feel kinda weird in a way. No idea why though so don't ask.  
  
The second reason I liked History is NOT because the instructor and Rinoa's friend Quistis, was hot. She just wasn't my type if you catch my drift. The reason I liked History was 'cause we were talking about metasites. Quistis would practically burst out laughing every time she asked me a question about metasites. Of course, she was told the truth about me since she was an instructor.  
  
"Squall, please tell me what special properties metasite blood has." she was stifling a giggle as she was speaking.  
  
"Uhhh...I don't know...sorry" I just said that sometimes so people wouldn't suspect me. It was my plan. I could see Jason from the other side of the room laughing at me.  
  
"Well, perhaps Jason would have been listening to what I said just 2 seconds ago." Rinoa rolled her eyes at me and gave me that "don't you know anything?" look. I just shrugged. STUPID! WHY'D YOU DO THAT? WHAT THE HELL IS WRO- what? Why the hell am I acting like this? This is just stupid. I snapped back out of my trance and decided to listen to what Jason had to say.  
  
"Metasite blood is the best healing agent known so far. It heals small wounds as well as large ones so quickly that you can literally see it at work." he said it with absolute perfection and made me look like a fool. He shot Rinoa a wink from his seat and quickly turned back to his binder.  
  
"Very good Jason, now maybe Squall could take a lesson and tell us why metasite blood is never used except for by a metasite." Quistis started grinning again. Honestly, the girl was a terrible actor.  
  
"It's never used anywhere because it CAN'T be used anywhere. As well as holding the record for fastest healing agent, metasite blood also has the fastest evaporation of any liquid. In fact, once it comes in contact with anything other than the chemicals inside a metasite, it starts evaporating. This is why it leaves the metasite armor more in the form of a gas than a liquid." everyone was staring at me open mouthed. I don't think anyone in that class had ever heard me say more words than that before. Even Quistis was shocked.  
  
"Uhhh...that's...correct Squall." she gave me a look as if asking me if I was still sane. I didn't show any emotion.  
  
When Quistis turned around, I slowly grinned at Rinoa but quickly changed back to my usual expressionless frown. Rinoa looked almost confused.  
  
I suddenly came to realize that I was trying to outdo Jason. STUPID LEONHART! Definitely stupid. No idea why I was so desperate to show everyone that I was better than Jason. OK, not everyone, just Rinoa. But that's still dumb, all those years of training and I go and do something that almost blows my cover.  
  
Anyways, the rest of the class went by fairly quickly and the other classes were so boring that I'm not even going to talk about details. However, something funny happened after school today.  
  
Irvine doesn't pick us up after school since he's still at the office most of the time organizing raids or doing paperwork. It's amazing how he's only a few years older than us but he's already doing all the important stuff.  
  
Well, while I was walking home by myself, my metasite picked up something. It alerted me of three humans following me. I can't tell who they are. Even metasites can't tell who people are just by feeling their auras. Normally three guys following me is nothing I need to worry about. However, my metasite also noted that they were moving like they didn't want me to see them and that one of them was carrying a club. You know, one of those police beat-stick things.  
  
I walked a little further and headed for the mall since I wanted to get used to some of my surroundings and listen in on some conversations. Don't take it the wrong way, I'm not nosy or anything. It's just sometimes you pick up stuff that's good to know in the future.  
  
I got to the mall and went to the open park beside it. I needed some fresh air. Those three guys were still following me but if they didn't make a move, I don't give a damn. It was a nice park, lot's of trees and flowers. Most people didn't go to the park though since the mall was almost right beside it. Today, it was practically empty, which I found strange since most of the time there are at least two or three kids here.  
  
I noticed that the three guys were walking up to me now. I just stood there and let them come. Then, one of them tapped my shoulder. I turned around and it was exactly who I thought it would be.  
  
AN: Ouch, sorry guys you knew there was gonna be a cliffhanger sooner or later right? =P Anyways, this chapter was long, but a lot of it was conversation. I bet most of you can guess who the guy who tapped Squall on the shoulder is anyways so I doubt it'll surprise anyone in the next chapter hahaha. Alright, please R&R! Thanks. 


	8. Chapter 8 Confusion

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
AN: Thanks to everybody who reviewed that last chapter! I decided to make a really quick update. Please keep those reviews coming!  
  
Chapter 8: Confusion Rinoa's POV  
  
It's been a few weeks now that Jason and I have been going out. He's a nice guy and I really like him. Even my dad approves of him surprisingly enough. He told me that Jason was a very kind and smart young man. Jason always knows just what to say at the right times.  
  
"Hey Rinoa!" I turned around and was greeted with spiky blond hair and a toothy grin. It was Zell Dincht. Zell has been my friend since we were both five, he's my best friend next to Selphie. Somehow, I seem to like hyperactive people since Zell is more or less the same as Selphie personality wise, only he's a guy.  
  
"Hey Zell, haven't seen you in a while." Zell was also a metasite not a very strong metasite, but a metasite nonetheless. Because Zell was a metasite, he lived in the dorms and had separate classes from the rest of us which is why I see him a lot less often than before.  
  
"How's Jason? He treatin' you alright?"  
  
"Yeah, he's very nice not to mention all the girls in the Garden are all jealous of me." I giggled a little since it was sorta true, all the girls are giving me dark looks every time they see me with Jason.  
  
"That's cool, anyways, just wanted to know what's up with you. Gotta go back to the training center. They're gonna get us to spar again. Hope I don't get my ass handed to me" he started laughing like it was a joke but I could see he really was worried.  
  
"OK Zell, don't worry, your metasite will get better. Besides, you're already stronger than almost all of the people in the Garden. And definitely stronger than anyone in my class."  
  
"Yeah thanks Rinoa. I'll see you later then!" he ran off throwing fists and getting all pumped up. Deep inside, I knew the other metasites would hand him his ass.  
  
It was early in the morning and I still had quite a bit of time before my first class. I headed to the cafeteria and found Jason there eating breakfast.  
  
"Hi Rin" he gave me that smile of his again. His smile was so quick that it caught you by surprise sometimes which made him that much hotter. I giggled again 'cause of those stupid thoughts.  
  
"Morning Jason" I sat next to him and he immediately forgot all about his breakfast and wrapped his arms around me. "Come on, let's go to class sweetheart. It's almost time. Might as well get there early." he was so sweet. We walked hand in hand to Quistis' classroom. We arrived there very early. In fact, only two other people were in the classroom. Quistis and Squall. I wasn't surprised to see Squall there since I he's always by himself and doesn't seem to have any friends. In a way I felt sort of sorry for him but his attitude just totally turned everyone off. He never lets anybody know anything about him, he'll never give you a straight answer.  
  
Squall has been living with Irvine for a while now and Irvine tells us that he and Squall get along fine. Personally, I gave up on Squall since I just don't like the way he treats people. He also acts a little cocky sometimes. Why? I have no idea why, the guy seems like he's a below average student and he's not a good athlete or fighter so I don't know why he would be acting cocky. Maybe 'cause of his looks.  
  
"Good morning instructor." Jason smiled at Quistis. I'm liking Jason more and more now. Seems like I didn't know him before.  
  
"Good morning Jason, Rinoa." Quistis greeted us.  
  
"Quistis, you wanna go to the mall after school?" I don't know why I wanted to go to the mall so bad, I just did.  
  
"Sure, meet you at the park after school, ok?" the park was where we used to hang out as kids. We still use it as our meeting place since Quistis gets off school later than we do.  
  
"Yeah no problem."  
  
Squall sat directly across from me in Quistis' class. He was always silent in class listening to the instructor. Quistis kinda liked him I think since every time she asked him a question she sorta giggled.  
  
Quistis asked Squall a question about metasite blood and as usual Squall couldn't answer it. He looked over at me like he was checking me out or something. I rolled my eyes at him and he just shrugged stupidly.  
  
But then Quistis told Jason to answer the question and my boyfriend said the answer like he had it rehearsed. I looked at Squall and noticed a small twinkle in his eye which disappeared as quickly as it came. I glanced at Jason and saw him wink at me.  
  
Quistis then sprung another question at Squall. This time, I could almost see a change in him. He answered her question like he had swallowed the textbook and regurgitated it with his own words stuck in here and there. I was amazed to tell the truth but I figured that Quistis just asked the one question he actually knew.  
  
After school Jason said he had to go to his friend's house since he had been ignoring his friends for the longest time to spend time with me. I understood and I also had Quistis to keep me company. I went to the park after school and I decided to sit by and watch some kids playing. I like kids a lot. When I got to the park I did see kids. Kids running OUT of the park.  
  
I thought it was kinda weird so I went in to check it out. Sometimes, weak monsters like bite bugs and stuff get into the park and the kids get freaked out. I had my hand on my blaster edge just in case it really was some monster.  
  
The park was always a quiet place, overshadowed by the mall when it was built. Today, it seemed almost...dead. I walked on a little further and heard cracks and sounds of something heavy getting hit. I followed the sound and I saw something I didn't expect to see at all.  
  
Jason and three of his other friends were beating some guy up. One of his friends, a guy named Peter had a heavy lead club in one hand and was furiously pounding away at the figure in the middle of the three guys.  
  
I slowly crept up behind them and realized the guy was Squall. Squall was just standing there wobbling a little but standing and getting cracked on the head over and over again by that club while taking a beating from the three other guys, Jason included. I suddenly felt very sick, I didn't know why I EVER trusted Jason. I should've known that the people he hangs out with are a good sign that he's bad news.  
  
I snapped back to my senses and hauled my ass outta there as fast as I could. I needed to get some help for Squall. I ran all the way to the mall and bumped into Quistis on the way.  
  
"Quistis! Squall's getting the shit kicked outta him by Jason and the other three idiots he hangs out with all the time. You know, Peter, Jack, and Allan."  
  
"What? Squall??? You sure it was Squall?" what was she playing at? Of COURSE I was sure it's Squall! There's no mistaking that hair and those eyes, not to mention he was wearing his SeeD uniform from this morning.  
  
"Yes I'm sure! Now let's go find him before he gets hurt too much!" geez, he could be dead by now!  
  
"Uhhh ok Rin, let's go find him..." she followed me as I lead the way to the place where I found Squall earlier. Noone was there.  
  
"Hmmm you must've been imagining things. There's noone around here, some kids are coming in to play so maybe we shouldn't be bothering them let's go to the mall." Quistis started heading back.  
  
I stuck around for a few minutes and noticed the muddy ground had footprints left by five pairs of SeeD uniform boots. I hadn't been imagining things, it WAS Squall. They must've dragged him off somewhere else 'cause the park is too public.  
  
Quistis and I shopped for a while but my mind was on Squall the whole time. We all know he seems kinda clumsy as a fighter and he definitely can't handle four huge guys at once.  
  
"Quistis, I'm going to go home now, I really don't feel much like shopping anymore. Sorry."  
  
"You still worried about Squall?" damn, she read my mind. I nodded slowly.  
  
"There's nothing to worry about, I'm sure he's fine. Even if he was getting beat up, somebody would've found him and took him to the ambulance right? Besides, Jason and his friends aren't stupid enough to kill someone right? Honestly, I don't even know why they would want to beat up Squall in the first place so you were probably imagining things." somehow, Quistis seemed kinda carefree, like she knew something I didn't.  
  
"Yeah, he'll be fine. I'm gonna go anyways though, see ya later." I waved and started walking home. I live pretty close to the mall and I can get home in about five minutes. When I got home, I was shocked to see Squall in my house playing with my dog Angelo.  
  
"Hi Rinoa. Just came over to play with your dog since Irvine's out and Irene was too lazy to give your dog some exercise." Squall came over rather frequently and quickly got to know everybody in our house. My dad and Irene enjoyed his company and Irvine wasn't home half the time so he comes over to my house to hang out.  
  
"Hey Squall, you're home fast."  
  
"Yeah, I didn't go anywhere after school. Came right back home." our house was almost like his house now 'cause Irvine was so close to my father.  
  
"Oh...I see, well I'm gonna go upstairs and start my homework. Just call if Angelo gives you any trouble." I laughed and went upstairs. My breathing was ragged and unsteady because what I had just seen scared me. It scared me bad.  
  
Squall didn't have a single cut or bruise on any part of his body that I could see. The back part of his head that was being smacked around by a LEAD club looked completely normal and he talked and acted like nothing ever happened. I was starting to question my own sanity.  
  
RIIIIING! RIIIIING! The phone rang and jolted my out of my thoughts.  
  
"Hello?" I usually answered the phone around here if my dad wasn't home.  
  
"Hey Rin, it's Jason."  
  
AN: Well, most of you guessed right hahaha it WAS Jason. I think I dropped enough hints that it was Jason =P I also introduced Zell in this chapter. He's gonna play a pretty big role in this story later on so stay tuned. The more reviews I get the quicker I'll update! So please R&R! Thanks! 


	9. Chapter 9: Tough choices

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
AN: Thanks to Lost_Soul , Hanh , CTHKSI, Erina, bn431, and SquallJechtLeonhart for reviewing chapter 8. Sorry for not keeping my promise and updating sooner =P really busy weekend hahaha. Anyways, enjoy the chapter.  
  
Chapter 9: Tough choices Squall's POV  
  
Just as I had suspected, it was that idiot Jason and his dumbass friends. I was informed that one of those ass holes was swinging a heavy lead bat at me. Without even thinking, I took one step backwards and avoided a smack to the head.  
  
"Think you're pretty cocky huh? Think you're better than me?" damn Jason, what an idiot really. I mean, I answer one question in class better than him and he comes with his friends to beat me up. Typical garden variety asshole.  
  
"I've heard what the girls say about you Leonhart. Think you're hot stuff Leonhart? Well, I'll give you something that'll stop you strutting around the Garden flirting with other people's girlfriends." oh so that was it. Envy. Such a simple emotion really, stuff like anger is so much harder to control.  
  
"Jason, I didn't mean to do anything. I'm really sorry if I offended you in any way." I said it with total sincerity. Like I really meant it. The strongest man is the one who doesn't need to fight. I was just avoiding it if I could.  
  
"Screw you pretty boy, I don't give a shit if you're sorry or not! I wanted to kick your ass the moment you walked into our class. I'm also giving you the welcome to Balamb Garden farm boy." he ran towards me and threw a punch that would've connected with my jaw and probably broken it. I just took one step back and he missed entirely.  
  
At that very moment. I realized something very important. I had to keep my disguise. Nobody can find out a metasite otherwise my new life would be no different from my old one. I had to look and act like a regular student. And regular student's would not be able to take on three guys at once.  
  
The next blow was thrown by Peter, the guy with the club. I almost had to kick myself to keep me from dodging the swing. I just stood there while he cracked that thing over my head. It almost hurt.  
  
I let them carry on with their beating for the next two minutes. It really didn't hurt that much since I healed all my wounds instantly. Somehow, the four guys never really noticed that they weren't hurting me. Maybe they just got the satisfaction of punching and beating SOMETHING.  
  
Suddenly, my metasite alerted me of another human in the area. I was curious since Jason and co. had already freaked out the kids who were previously in the park.  
  
Turns out, the human signature I had been feeling was Rinoa. Of course, she said she'd meet Quistis at the park. I overheard them talking this morning. But once she saw what was happening, she quickly jumped behind a tree as if she was afraid to be seen. I chuckled inwardly a little. If she only knew what I was. There was no point in hiding. Maybe Jason and his friends didn't see her, but from that range I could practically count her eyelashes....she had the most beautiful eyelashes I had ever se- OWWW my concentration broke for a second and I didn't block out the pain. It didn't hurt TOO much, but getting hit in the back of the neck by a lead club isn't exactly comfortable. I wobbled a little and I guess Rinoa thought I was in trouble or something. She looked like she snapped out of a trance or something and ran off.  
  
"Hey! Isn't that your girlfriend?" shit, one of the guys saw Rinoa. I was hoping she could stay out of this. I took a bat in the mouth and a knee in the gut. There was one chance to get Rinoa back OUT of this. I had to make her believe that she was hallucinating. I didn't want the attention and the only way was to make Rinoa think she saw the wrong guy get beat up. Not easy, but it was worth a try.  
  
I landed a punch on Peter which knocked him back. Jason thought he'd done enough damage to me I guess.  
  
"Think twice before showing off Leonhart." and he left. I had to beat Rinoa back to her house. Make her think I was there the whole time. If I was lucky, Rinoa would still be at the mall looking for Quistis.  
  
I waited till Jason and his friends were a safe distance away before leaving myself. If I left too early, they'd probably question why I wasn't as badly hurt as I should've been.  
  
When, they left, I took off at a fast run back to Rinoa's house. Irvine wasn't home yet so I decided I'd go to Rinoa's house which was what I usually did when Irvine was out. Rinoa's house was a helluva lot bigger than Irvine's and they had a pool table, home theater, gym, and sparring arena. Even though I was sick of being pampered by the damn government, I rather go to Rinoa's house than stay at Irvine's.  
  
I thought of activating my metasite and just fly to Rinoa's house but I quickly scrapped that idea since people would see me. Besides, I could easily beat Rinoa home if she was at the mall.  
  
I knocked on Rinoa's door and was greeted by Irene's kind smile.  
  
"Ahhh Squall! Irvine's out again?" I nodded. Lucky for me, that run from the mall was cake. I wasn't breathing heavily or sweating.  
  
"Looking for Rinoa? She's not home, went to the mall with her friends."  
  
"That's alright, don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Just came over 'cause Irvine's place is a dump." I laughed a little to make me sound carefree. I needed to act as casual as possible so Rinoa wouldn't think I DID get beat up.  
  
15 minutes later, Rinoa walked through the door. I was petting her dog Angelo and I pretended to be surprised to see her. I've been doing so much pretending lately it's sad.  
  
We talked about absolutely nothing for a little bit while I kept my face from giving her any indication that I'd just been beaten up half an hour ago. After awhile she ran up to her room. I breathed easy again, she hadn't asked any questions which probably meant she was going to just forget about what she saw this afternoon.  
  
I had to stick around for a little longer. Couldn't let her think I'd leave just when she walked in. That could lead to suspicion. RIIIING the phone rang. I heard Rinoa pick it up upstairs in her room. The door was closed but my metasite could practically hear a cockroach fart from a hundred feet away.  
  
"Oh hi Jason... tonight? I dunno, I just got back from the mall... yeah actually I have something very important to talk to you about too...Ok then, I don't think my dad will care, I'll come over at 8 then. Bye."  
  
SHIT this was not good. Not good at all. Rinoa doesn't know that Jason knows she was there today. Instinct told me that a guy like that doesn't think about consequences and he could end up hurting Rinoa.  
  
I had to keep an eye on her. She may be naive thinking that Jason just wanted to "talk" but I sure as hell didn't think so. I looked at the clock on the wall 7:37, I don't know how long it takes to get to Jason's house from here so I decided to follow Rinoa when she left.  
  
I walked outside, activated the metasite armor and jumped onto the roof of Rinoa's house. I sat down and began to wait. I smiled and shook my head slightly remembering how I promised I wouldn't get involved in other people's business again. 10 minutes later, Rinoa came out of her house.  
  
I was flitting from rooftop to rooftop as quietly as I could while keeping my eye on Rinoa. It was really hard for a normal human to find out a metasite was following them.  
  
Finally we arrived at Jason's house. It was a mess. The most run down house I have ever seen in my life. There were pieces of wood hanging from the walls, cracked windows, a muddy driveway, and it didn't look like anyone was home except for one light on in the upper right room. Rinoa knocked on the tattered door and Jason opened it almost immediately.  
  
"Hey Rinoa, come in." he grabbed her arm and led her in. Unfortunately I couldn't see THROUGH things but I could still hear extremely well.  
  
I jumped onto the dead tree beside Jason's house and focused on listening to their conversation. "So, you saw me this afternoon." I guessed right, it WAS about this afternoon.  
  
"Jason, I just don't think we should be together anymore. I'm sorry." wrong move.  
  
"No, I swear I'll never do it again Rin, I swear! Please, you're the only one I have now. My dad's off drunk somewhere and my mom's probably gambling all our money away! Please Rin don't do this to me!" so that's why he was such a jerk at school. His family's messed up.  
  
"I'm sorry Jason...HEY! LET GO OF ME!"  
  
"Well, at least let me get something from you before you leave me!" I heard Rinoa screaming for help. Crap, I hadn't considered what I was going to do if he really DID make a move. Rinoa was a good fighter, but Jason could easily overpower her.  
  
"JASON! LET GO!" shit I had to do something. It was now or never...  
  
AN: ouch, another cliffhanger. Sorry hahaha next chapter! This is one of those love it or hate it chapters. Depends on how hard you think about it ~_^ some of my friends thought Squall was a wuss by letting those guys beat him up. Please R&R and give me YOUR opinion! Thanks! 


	10. Chapter 10: Revelation

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
AN: Thank you to setsetrtsgf , Rhi-an (patience my friend, patience ~_^) , Ash , SquallJechtLeonhart , and Hanh for the reviews for chapter 9. Hope you enjoy this chapter as well!  
  
Chapter 10: Revelation Rinoa's POV  
  
I screamed as loud as I could even though I knew nobody would hear me. I cursed myself a million times for getting so careless. That stupid ass Jason had my arms pinned behind my back and he was on top of me. I knew that in a fight against him, I had to use my speed. Jason was probably twice as heavy as me and much stronger. In this position, I wouldn't be doing any fighting.  
  
"HELP!!!" I still screamed although it was useless. The windows were all closed and Jason lived in a pretty secluded area of the neighborhood.  
  
"Don't yell Rinoa, you can moan, but don't yell." he had this insane smile on his face and he used his free hand to start unbuckling his belt.  
  
The bastard was going to rape me?! I was starting to feel scared now, but I quickly reminded myself of my training and tried every trick in the book to free myself from his grasp. Unfortunately for me, Jason learned all those tricks WITH me so he knew how to counter them all.  
  
Jason was pulling down his pants now and he forcefully pushed me down onto his tattered bed. Tears were starting to flow in my eyes because me ankle hit the corner of the bed and it hurt like hell.  
  
Great, I finally get out of his grasp and I can't move because I busted my ankle. Think Rinoa, think!  
  
Nothing came to me, I was useless, I couldn't move and I was nowhere near as strong as Jason.  
  
TINK! CRACK! A rock had been thrown through Jason's window. It wasn't even a rock actually, more like a pebble. Normally, a pebble would not be able to penetrate a window. But this pebble was thrown with such force that it went straight through the window barely making cracks in the thick glass.  
  
The pebble hit Jason in the temple and a thin trickle of blood began to appear on his now pale white face. Jason may have been an idiot but he was a SeeD nonetheless.  
  
Instantly, Jason pulled his goddamn pants up and grabbed the blade he had resting on his bedside table. He slowly drew the long curved weapon from it's case and held it ready at his side. "Who the hell did that?!" he was approaching the window examining the tiny crack in the glass. "This is impossible, no way in hell could something so small make it through this window without breaking it!" he was totally freaking out.  
  
"Did you see who was out there?" for a moment I just totally forgot that this idiot was trying to rape me about a minute ago. I was curious as to who or what could do something like that. That pebble flew so fast it seemed like it was fired from a gun.  
  
"I dunno, it might've been an accident. Better check if whoever did it is still out there. I could sue them for this..." he started opening the window, having trouble getting the lock open.  
  
"I think I'll go home now, my dad'll be wondering where I am..." I got up but Jason ran back over to me and roughly shoved me back down onto the bed.  
  
"You're not going anywhere." he got back up and finally opened the window. I was so mad but I couldn't do anything with my ankle in the current condition.  
  
"There's nobody out he-" BANG! It was kind of a funny scene if the situation wasn't so serious. One minute Jason had his head stuck outside the window looking this way and that, the next minute he was flying. I mean he was literally flying. Jason hit the wall on the other side of the room with a satisfying crunch.  
  
Have you ever been really happy and really scared at the same time? Let me tell you, it's the wierdest feeling. I was happy that Jason got the shit kicked outta him but I was also scared of what did that to him.  
  
I was staring at the window holding my breath and practically shaking. It could be anything, might be some huge monster or something and I didn't have my weapon with me.  
  
Suddenly, a gleam from the floor caught my eye. It was Jason's blade. I decided to be prepared to fight whatever was out there so I grabbed it. Hobbling to the window on my one good leg, I used Jason's blade as a cane. I had one chance to kill this thing, just one. You see, in my current state, there was no way in hell I could escape so I had to gamble.  
  
Prepping myself for the attack I stood there in a fighting stance. I stood beside the window so the attacker would not be able to see me. I had the upper edge.  
  
Movement! Through the window! A blue blur! I brought Jason's blade down and felt the blade shudder. I hit something!  
  
Then my heart downright stopped. Standing in front of me was the most beautiful and deadly thing I had ever seen. It was the size of a man, a little bigger. It's whole body was covered in something that looked like bone but was gleaming, almost glowing. In the middle of it's face was a sort of spike like an antenna that was slightly curved towards the back of the head. The eyes were slanted down, and looking closer, I could see the individual lenses which made up the compound eye. It had two different types of shoulder armor, on the right was a long curved spike similar to the one on the head. On the left, was a sharp sphere made up of overlapping bladed plates.  
  
In it's left hand, was the strangest looking weapon I had ever seen. The handle looked like some sort of hand gun that got turned into an animal. I've never seen a grip so awkward before. But the grip was not the thing that drew my attention. The blade of this weapon, interlocked with Jason's blade, was the real eye opener. The blade was totally separate from the handle. Like they were two different things, however, you could see that the handle "created" the blade. The blade was shining, like it was light, but looking closer, I could see that it was made of tiny particles all moving in sync with each other.  
  
We were locked in that one position for only a split second before it knocked my blade aside. I didn't need to ask what it was, I already knew. And I was practically gonna faint because I knew I was in probably the worse position anybody could ever be in.  
  
I was face to face with an unidentified metasite.  
  
AN: hehe I'm getting into a habit with these cliffhangers aren't I? Hahaha please R&R!!! 


	11. Chapter 11: From crisis to peace

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
AN: Thanks for all of your reviews for the last chapter. I was debating for the longest time on how to write that. Rhi-an, thanks for that bit of curiosity. You'll get a nice bit of his past soon enough ~_^. Evangelion361 has pretty much got the metasite's description. Basically when I wrote it, I pictured more or less a guyver like creature if any of you have seen the guyver you'll know what I'm talking about. Anyways, without further adieu here's Chapter 11.  
  
Chapter 11: From crisis to peace Squall's POV  
  
I stood there rooted to the spot as Rinoa watched me with wide eyes. To tell you the truth, I had no idea why I stepped in and did what I did. I just went and did it before I could stop myself.  
  
I didn't want Jason to see what I was so I climbed onto the edge of his window and waited till he stuck his head out the window and then I decked him. I used about 5% strength, just enough to knock him back into the house and unconscious.  
  
Now that part wasn't even the stupid part. The stupid part was that I actually climbed IN the window. Why did I do that you ask? I have no friggin' idea. Maybe it was 'cause I wanted to see if Rinoa was safe. Maybe.  
  
Once I walked into the room my metasite jolted me awake. Rinoa wanted to take my head off before I knew what the hell was happening. Luckily for me, her movements compared to mine were like a snail compared to a jet fighter or something.  
  
In no time at all, I drew Lionheart and blocked her slash. It was strange because at that very moment I could have left. I could have kept up my life as a normal student. Sometimes I think back to that very moment where my new life was shattered into a million pieces. I think back to that moment and wonder if I had the chance to do it all over again would I do what I did? Or escape and leave Rinoa puzzled. Then I always come up with the same answer. I'd do it the same way without any hesitation whatsoever.  
  
Rinoa just watched me. I could literally hear her heart beating so fast it was like a jackhammer. I stared straight into her eyes with my own insect like eyes. Those eyes which constantly looked angry or fierce. I must've been scaring the shit outta her so I talked to her.  
  
"Rinoa are you alright?" my voice was the same as my voice outside of the metasite armor. I blew it, I blew everything. I screwed my new life over by saying those four words. Yet at the same time I opened up a whole new life. One that I would end on.  
  
"Squall? Is that you?" she still had the blade in a ready position with that sword. MY sword was resting gently at my side. One glance already showed me that she was in no condition to fight.  
  
"Yes Rinoa, it's me. I asked you if you were alright." why couldn't she just lower that blade? It was getting really annoying to talk to a sharp metal point the whole time. "Yeah I'm ok, shaken but ok. You're a metasite." it wasn't a question, it was a statement. I didn't say anything. "Why didn't you tell me?" now instead of a scared expression on her face, Rinoa wore a very angry scowl. No worries though, with my god damn eyes, nobody looked angrier than me.  
  
"Look, why don't you put that sword down first." I really hated talking to the tip of a sword.  
  
"Screw you! I'm having a very bad day today! You think I'm stupid? You're an unidentified metasite, you have your metablade in one hand and you're standing four feet in front of me! I'm not in exactly the safest position here and this sword is the only thing that's protecting me right now! I DON'T think I'm gonna drop it just 'cause you asked nicely!" she said all this very fast.  
  
In a movement too fast for the human eye to see, I crossed that four feet, ducked underneath the blade, grabbed Rinoa's arm and skillfully removed the blade. Jason's sword was now in my right hand while Lionheart was in my left. Did I tell you I'm left-handed? It's another reason why I'm so hard to fight against. Lefties are always tougher to fight because my blade will always be blocking yours.  
  
I was also right in front of Rinoa. As in RIGHT in front of her. She was so startled she fell backwards and tripped on her bad ankle.  
  
Instinctively, I caught her. I dropped Jason's blade and used one arm to hold her. I could see her expression soften as she looked into my eyes.  
  
"If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead by now. Don't worry, I won't hurt you." I decided that saying this with my face looking like an evil insect from hell was probably not a very good idea. So I slowly ordered the metasite armor to go away. The hard exoskeleton and the thin tendrils were melting away slowly and Rinoa looked back into my human eyes.  
  
"Squall...I didn't know...I had no idea. But of course, it all makes sense now...You slid down the rope at school with no injuries, your hands aren't calloused like a soldier or a farm boy...and...that's..." she slowly ran a slender finger across my scar. She spoke in ragged gasps like she was having a hard time talking. It was then that I realized I still had one arm around her waist. I quickly let go.  
  
"Let's go Rinoa, we can talk back at your house." it felt like an electric jolt had been sent through my body when she touched my scar. But it also felt oddly satisfying.  
  
"What about Jason?" she was staring at the idiot lying on the floor with concerned eyes.  
  
"What about him?" I wasn't so sure how to answer her since if it were me, I'd just leave him there.  
  
"Well, we can't just leave him here....actually, yes we can. He's so stupid he'll probably think I hit him over the head so he'll just leave me alone." she was actually smiling now.  
  
I walked over to the fallen Jason and laid his sword beside him. Then I walked back to Rinoa and helped her hobble to the door.  
  
"Shit" I cursed 'cause of the worst timing in the world.  
  
"What Squall?" she looked at me like I was retarded or something.  
  
"There's someone coming. They're at the driveway right now and I'd bet my metasite that it's Jason's mom or dad." the human signature was coming closer. I could feel it stagger out of the car and head towards the front door.  
  
"Oh so I guess we shouldn't take the front door huh? His parents might be freaked out if someone they didn't know just walks out of their house and they find their kid unconscious." she giggled a little at the thought. I was so not in the mood for giggling.  
  
"The window's the safest place for us to escape but your leg's busted. We can also wait until the person downstairs goes somewhere else and then we can run out the front door. But then we run the risk that that person might come up here or they might here us while we're going down the stairs." I had to make quick decisions.  
  
"Let's take the window. I'm alright." I looked down at her ankle and noticed that it was still at an unusual angle even though she was trying to hide it. Metasite eyes don't miss much.  
  
"Ok, we'll take the window since I really don't want to get caught even IF his parents are messed up. But-" I activated the armor again. "I'm not going to let you damage that ankle. Don't worry, I don't bite."  
  
She looked suspiciously at me before grinning "Alright, alright" she threw her arms up in defeat. But before she could even take a step closer to me, I grabbed her gently and did an Evel Kineval over Jason's bed and out the window. I hadn't noticed that the faint human signature I was feeling (which was probably Jason's dad) was already outside Jason's door. CARELESS Leonhart, that was SO careless.  
  
Rinoa's arms were wrapped around my neck. Well, I was grinning from ear to ear inside the armor even though on the outside I just looked mean. Another benefit to having a metasite.  
  
"Wow, I always thought a metasite would feel really rough or hard. Like machines. But this armor is so soft, it's like a water bed almost." she started giggling again.  
  
I walked with her the rest of the way home. I didn't want people to see me as a metasite so I removed the armor. She looked so beautiful as we were walking. The street lights illuminated her face and I couldn't help staring at her. She never knew, of course.  
  
"Squall, if you weren't a farm boy...then what were you?" damn. I was afraid of that...  
  
"Well you see, Rinoa, ummm...I'll tell you tomorrow. It's getting late and your dad'll worry." saved by the house. We just arrived at her front door.  
  
"Oh, ok then. Uh, thanks Squall. I dunno what would've happened tonight if you weren't there." then she walked into her house with a little wave at me. I felt my heart do a sort of hyper flutter. And the metasite didn't do anything to stop it...  
  
AN: oooohhh first signs of Squinoa action lol once again thanx for all the new reviewers and of course the old ones. Please R&R! 


	12. Chapter 12: Trouble at Balamb

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
AN: Sorry for the long update, I've been pretty busy these few days. Thanks for all your wonderful reviews and ideas. Like I said, any constructive criticism or ways in which I can improve are greatly appreciated. Well, here's Chapter 12, enjoy.  
  
Chapter 12: Trouble at Balamb Rinoa's POV  
  
Alright, as much as I'd love to tell you that I stayed calm and collected throughout the evening, I can't. The truth is, Squall scared the shit outta me. The whole time I was trying to act like nothing happened but I was talking like a robot or something and I was so stiff.  
  
When he took me in his arms and I felt the cool smooth armor of his, I was shocked. I actually told him the truth, I never expected a metasite to feel that way. Zell never let me touch his armor and I never wanted to since his armor was all spiny. Squall's armor looked almost like some sort of artist's sculpture. Another thing I didn't expect.  
  
Once I got home I raced up the stairs and took a shower. I was debating whether or not I should tell my dad about Squall. You see, Squall could be a renegade metasite that just moved into Balamb and could easily wipe us out from the inside out. But there was also something in the way he spoke that caused me to trust him. Eventually I decided to wait until I had a little talk with Squall.  
  
I was really too tired to do much so I just fell face down on my bed and slept. Tomorrow, I'd get more info out of Squall.  
  
"Hey Rinoa! You look kinda tired. You ok?" Irvine was giving Selphie, Squall, and myself a ride to school. I swear, Selphie can ALWAYS tell when I've had a rough night.  
  
"Yeah I'm fine." I was in the back seat with none other than Squall and Selphie was in the front with Irvine. She turned around looked at Squall who was staring out the window, then mouthed to me "bullshit". I put my hand to my mouth to stifle a giggle.  
  
Once we got to the Garden, Squall immediately took off. I told Selphie to wait for me in class and then I ran to catch up with Squall.  
  
"Hey" I said cheerfully "how's it going?"  
  
"I'm fine" he replied casually  
  
"Good, but you said you'd answer my question from yesterday remember?" I don't know why but I felt much safer talking to him today. Maybe because so many people were around us. Or maybe 'cause he didn't have his metasite armor activated.  
  
He sighed and took my arm. I was kinda surprised and just a little bit scared by his touch. He didn't grab my arm really rough or anything. Actually, it was quite the opposite, very gentle.  
  
"Come with me to the cafeteria. We can talk there." then he let go. I walked side by side with him getting some very weird looks from some of the other girls. I had a feeling there were gonna be some nasty rumors spread very soon especially when people hear that Jason got beat up.  
  
We still had about 20 minutes before class started. I knew that Jason sometimes went to the cafeteria in the morning and I didn't want to see him. Luckily, when we arrived at the cafeteria the place was nearly empty. Squall and I grabbed a seat at the very back where people wouldn't likely see or hear us.  
  
"Ok, I'm not going to lie to you Rinoa. I am a metasite. I've been living by myself in different places every month. Sometimes just in run down huts in the forest. A metasite doesn't need anything fancy. I've been launching guerrilla attacks against the Galbadian government because they killed my family. I just decided that it was time to join up with you guys so I enrolled here as a cadet. I couldn't let you know I was a metasite because if the Galbadian government got a hold of a picture or something of my metasite, I'd be screwed over. I'm terribly sorry Rinoa." I almost cried. His normally cloudy eyes looked hurt and hopeful at the same time.  
  
"It's ok Squall. You can trust me, I won't tell anyone. I know that once you're enrolled as a metasite, your metasite's picture and all the other specifics are kept in folders within the Garden. It's quite safe really. But I guess you don't want to take the chance." he really was cute. I was still staring into those icy blue eyes of his.  
  
"Thanks Rinoa. I've done my research and I know that a highly trained hacker could easily break into those files. Plus, metasites are always featured in the news and stuff and I think it'll only be a matter of time before something leaks out about me."  
  
Right at that moment, Squall quickly stood up and spun around. Jason was standing right in front of him.  
  
"Leonhart. You're a dead man." Jason had a huge bruise right across the right side of his face.  
  
"I didn't do anything." Squall had a monotonous voice and he kept it cool.  
  
"Don't give me that BULL! You're trying to get it on with my girl!" what?!  
  
"Hey! Didn't I tell you yesterday that I'm not your girlfriend anymore?!" geez this guy is impossible!  
  
"Shaddup Rinoa! This is between me and Squ-"  
  
"Would all SeeDs and level 3 Cadets please report to the front gates. All SeeDs and level 3 Cadets report to the front gates. This is an emergency." We were level 3 cadets. And we were being called to the front gates. Not the headmaster's office. This could only mean that we were being called on an emergency mission. "We'll finish this later Leonhart." our own battle was temporarily forgotten as we raced towards the front gates.  
  
Quistis, Selphie, and the rest of our class were already there along with full SeeDs. Quistis addressed us all.  
  
"Everybody! We have an emergency situation! A rebel metasite is in Balamb right now. He's going a little crazy and blowing things up. So far, Commander Kinneas and his strike team have been sent out to contain the metasite. Reports say that it is not very strong so we didn't have to dispatch our own metasites. Instead, we are giving our SeeDs and Cadets a little bit of training. Now everyone, remember, guns are useless against metasites so only bring your close combat weapons. Alpha team can leave now followed by Delta." oh shit. We were actually going into battle against a metasite. Quistis was handing out the briefings.  
  
Good, the metasite was a class five. No wonder why they weren't dispatching our own metasites. A single class five metasite was nothing. Probably just some nut head who decided to wreak some havoc. It's really a shame 'cause even a class five metasite is very strong compared to a normal human. Oh well, it's his fault.  
  
I walked aboard the bus that we were gonna be traveling on. It was heavily armored and had urban camouflage. I was sitting beside Selphie with Quistis and Squall in the seat in front of me. I was so nervous. At the same time I kept thinking how sad Squall's life was. I wondered if he would fight as a normal human or as a metasite.  
  
Even Selphie wasn't talking. The tension was building so fast I could literally feel it. Have you ever fought before in a war? In a fight where you could actually be killed? Not some video game where you'll just get revived when you're dead. I'm talking about the real deal. You see kids everywhere pretending to fight with imaginary swords and guns. You see movies of wars and duels but the real thing is totally different. The atmosphere of the whole thing is different. Guns are about 50 times louder in real life than in the movies and the feeling you get when dueling with swords is so scary you'd shit your pants. One wrong move and your head could go rolling across the floor. It's scary stuff.  
  
I didn't have to wait long. We arrived at Balamb and instantly I saw a huge flash in the background followed by a loud bang.  
  
"Rinoa, let's stick close ok?" Selphie was shaking so bad her voice was cracking.  
  
"Yeah ok." it wasn't exactly a good tactic but in desperate times you'd do anything for a little support.  
  
Quistis, Selphie, and I stuck together in a tight knot. The others all fanned out and prepared to attack at different angles. Luckily, Balamb is a big town and the side the metasite was attacking was almost directly opposite from where I lived.  
  
As we creeped closer I could hear people screaming and more loud bangs. And then I saw the fight. I turned a corner and could see a large clearing in the middle of the road. I knew this place, it was a park in downtown. But a large hole was in one of the buildings and smoke was billowing from it. Smashed up cars were strewn everywhere and wounded or dead soldiers lay unmoving in random areas of the road. A group of four soldiers were surrounding the metasite in a square formation with swords pointing in. I could see out of the corner of my eye a few more soldiers coming to help. Irvine was with them. The metasite was sleek and deadly looking. It had a sharp antenna pointed directly upwards and spines arched from it's back and shoulders. It's arms were long and were also covered in spines. However, it had not drawn it's metablade yet. The armor was a deep orange almost crimson color and it's compound eyes shone a deadly blood red.  
  
"Wow, it's amazing." Selphie whispered to me.  
  
"How did he do this?" Quistis had a quizzical look on her face.  
  
"Do what?" I had no idea what the hell Quistis was talking about.  
  
"THIS, he practically wiped out the team sent here. And Irvine was part of it. He's only a class five. Not supposed to be able to take out an elite group of SeeDs." I thought about it. It made sense. Why didn't anyone rendezvous with us at the drop off point? Things must have been bad.  
  
Suddenly, the four soldiers attacked at once! They were so coordinated! These were expert SeeDs, they were a few of our best. Two of the soldiers swiped their swords in a horizontal slash trying to take the metasite's head or legs off while the other two stabbed head on.  
  
The metasite looked like it wasn't even trying. He used the two insect- like wings on his back and the twin boosters that covered them to easily maneuver out of the tight attack. Then in mid air, he delivered three quick kicks to the soldiers and one round house to the remaining one. I thought the SeeDs were good until I saw this amazing display of speed and accuracy. I barely even saw it.  
  
"Oh crap." Quistis was worried now. Not a good sign.  
  
"STAND DOWN! I ordered you already!" Irvine's western accent boomed out across the now still park.  
  
"It'll be alright. Irvine's here now." I was trying to comfort Selphie as well as myself. But I knew that even the best SeeD couldn't win against such an opponent.  
  
"Irvine! We're here!" Quistis waved at him and signaled for the rest of the SeeDs in hiding to show themselves.  
  
"Quistis, we've underestimated our foe. Somehow, he blocked his power from our sensors so we picked him up as a class five. But in fact, judging from his ability he's at least a class two." Irvine's tone was grim. He knew reinforcements could not arrive soon enough to save us. If the metasite decided to attack, we were all goners.  
  
"It's alright Irvine, you may have underestimated my group of SeeDs as well. Let's hope for the best." then the metasite started to draw his blade.  
  
The blade materialized slowly before our eyes. VERY slowly. He spoke while he drew that bright flaming yellow blade.  
  
"All I want is Squall Leonhart. I know he is here." everyone was shocked. "Allow me to duel Squall Leonhart and I will not attack. If you deny, I will kill you all." his voice was bitter, cold, and merciless. When he spoke, nobody doubted that he WOULD kill us all if given half the chance. He was giving us a way out so we would not be slaughtered. I highly doubted that Squall could even stand a chance against such a foe.  
  
"None of us have heard of this Squall Leonhart. We are not hiding him. You can either turn yourself in or you will be arrested with force." Irvine said it convincingly but we all knew that all of us combined could not kill the metasite.  
  
"My name is Raijin. All I wish is to duel Squall. You lie to me. And you will die." then he drew his blade.  
  
CRACK! TSEEK!  
  
A blur shot by all of us. Then a blinding light. Standing in front of me was Squall. But in his metasite armor this time. That same cool blue armor I saw the day before. And in his left hand was the same icy blade that rested on the fine line between beautiful and deadly looking.  
  
Squall stood a good few feet between Raijin. He had delivered a hammer blow to Raijin's blade and pushed him back.  
  
"Is that....Squall?" Selphie was awed by Squall's hidden secret. Gasps were heard all around us. People wondering if this new metasite was really the cold, lonely, almost nerdy farm boy that just came to school a few months ago. But the gasps were silenced quickly.  
  
"I'm here Raijin, you know I can't back down to a challenge. You can also sense a metasite signature in the crowd and could guess that it's none other than me. Well, I'm here now and now we duel."  
  
AN: Alright, hope this chapter wasn't as disappointing as the last one =P I thank each and every one of you who review this story good or bad. I'm just running out of time to keep posting everyone's name down here hahaha but you know who you are. Please keep em' coming! Thanks! 


	13. Chapter 13: So fast

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
AN: NOOOO!!! I think my computer got hit by a virus or a hacker or something cuz my internet's like all screwed I wanted to update earlier but I couldn't get it to work. Anyways, sorry everybody for the hold up but hopefully it'll work now...  
  
Chapter 13: So fast...  
  
Yeah I'm crazy I know. I just basically saw a huge pile of shit and jumped right into it. And now I was basically in one of the worst possible situations you could ever be in. Face to face with Raijin with tons of people watching including Rinoa...  
  
"Raijin, why the hell are you here anyways?" that was puzzling me.  
  
"Shut up Squall. I'm here to fight you. I've waited a long time for this." he had a sort of manic look in his eyes.  
  
I heard Rinoa whisper something that only a metasite would be able to hear.  
  
"Don't do it Squall."  
  
I grinned even though noone could see me. She was worried about me, I don't blame her.  
  
"Hahahaha! Don't worry miss, I won't hurt him TOO bad." Rinoa glowed scarlet. Of course, Raijin heard her too.  
  
Raijin stood about 6'7" tall and his armor was a fiery orange color. He had razor sharp spines that grew almost all over his body. I never really found out how he moved with all those spines everywhere. Maybe that's why he doesn't move. That was his weakness, slow as an ox. Of course, compared to regular humans he can show off with his little jump kick tricks but against a metasite he is SLOW. But he can dish out a ton of damage if he wanted with that huge ass blade of his. His blade was almost three feet wide and had a weird serrated edge that was nonetheless effective. Because his blade was so big and so heavy, he could literally smash giant metal slabs with it.  
  
Myself? I stood at about 6 feet with my metasite and I only had a single blade on my right shoulder. The rest of my armor was very round and spherical. I wasn't even very muscular, in a word, compared to Raijin I looked like a big fat juicy steak thrown into a piranha tank. I was more or less dead meat.  
  
"Why do you do this Raijin? You know you don't stand a chance against me without Fujin here to back you up."  
  
I could almost feel the heat coming off of this guy he was so mad. He hates it whenever anyone disses him when his partner's not with him. Wait a second...I DID feel heat coming from him. SHIT! I dodged left just as Raijin let loose a harsh energy blast right where I was a split second ago. The nova blast burned a hole the size of a small crater in the middle of a bank that was behind me.  
  
Projectile attacks are used for stunning or distracting metasites. They don't work when you try to kill metasites. I have no idea why, it's just natural that we heal so fast that they don't hurt us. The real killers are close range weapons, swords, blades, spears, etc. They hurt the most 'cause we can't heal them as quickly for some weird reason.  
  
I had to get in close if I wanted to hurt him. I could feel him charging to unleash another one of those things. I opened up my wings which had strange resemblances to dragonfly wings. Using the two boosters on my back and my wings as assistance I quickly fluttered from one place to another. I dodged Raijin's fireballs and quickly closed the distance by hopping on cars and over large slabs of concrete that had been broken off the buildings.  
  
I was a few meters away from him and I focused my mind on gathering my own energy. Unlike Raijin's hot blasts, mine were icy cold. My right palm started feeling cold and I brought it forward feeling the waves of energy following my hand.  
  
SEEEW!  
  
A blinding blue globe lanced from my hand towards Raijin. A normal human would see it like an extremely bright gunshot. Raijin and I saw it clearly. The glowing ball shot across the distance between me and Raijin. I was too close, he didn't have time to even think of dodging it before it exploded on his left arm.  
  
I seized the opportunity and was in striking range before he had a chance to recuperate. He wasn't THAT bad though. He had his huge blade out and he knew what was coming next.  
  
You see, in Galbadia I was famous for my overall skill but there was one attack that set me apart from all the other metasites. I was the only one who could perform this move with such accuracy. My blade could strike the opponent with surgical precision and then be in front of my face in ready position to strike again. And the scary thing was that I could perform this in half the time a human blinks his or her eyes. In fact, Lionheart cuts through the air so fast that it cracks like a whip almost. And now, Raijin was about to see first hand why I was so famous for this little skill I developed.  
  
THWAPP!  
  
Raijin's blade was in the way but I hit him with so much force that he skidded about a meter backwards. His blade was still vibrating from the hit. Good.  
  
I continued my attack. I was relentless with my strokes and Raijin was losing ground. He was getting weaker and weaker and he was only barely blocking my attacks.  
  
THWAPP! THWAPP! THWAPP! Now! An opportunity! His blade had been smacked to one side and it opened up a window that I could capitalize on. He wasn't bad, the small undefended area would be almost impossible for a right-handed swordsman to hit. That's why lefties are annoying.  
  
THWAPP! SEEEEW!  
  
The area between his neck and his chest had a deep gash glowing across it. Thin wisps of fluorescent yellow smoke spilled from the wound. Metasite blood. Raijin fell quickly to the ground covered in glowing yellow smoke.  
  
I didn't leave time for last words. I never do. When I kill, I do it quick so the opponent has no time to try for a final attack. Raijin had a long way to go as a fighter, he was not even close to my level. Foolish to try and fight me.  
  
I could see Irvine, Rinoa, and Quistis standing in the same corner they were before with their mouths hanging open. I suffered no injuries during that fight, not even a scratch.  
  
"Squall, you okay?" Irvine spoke up at last.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine."  
  
"W-wow, that was amazing man." he had an idiot grin plastered all over his face and his eyes were glowing. Guess the shock had worn off.  
  
"Whatever" I started to remove the armor. The plates were the first to go, they split into thin strips of tough exoskeleton and reverse wrapped into my back. Then the tendrils that bore into my skin which gave me control of the metasite began to peel off and suck back into my back like the plates. I guess this impressed some people since there was a lot of "Ohhh" and "Ahhh" from the approaching soldiers.  
  
"Holy shit!"  
  
"Crazy"  
  
"Absolutely incredible!"  
  
Praise from all the people watching that duel. Rinoa still had the shocked look in her eyes but I could see a smile playing on her lips. I couldn't help smiling a little myself. Everybody was crowding around me.  
  
Then a strange thing happened. At that exact moment that Rinoa smiled. I felt happy with all the attention like I did when I was a kid. It spread like warmth throughout my entire body and I temporarily forgot about the fact that I had let my secret out and that everybody knows I'm a metasite and that I'll probably be sent to a special metasite class or kicked out of school.  
  
"Hi Squall" she had finally walked up to me. Quistis was behind her. "Hey"  
  
"Good work out there Squall, full marks" Quistis gave me a small wink. I laughed. I just saved all their asses and she was talking about full marks. The irony of it all.  
  
"How's it going? You liked that fight?" what the hell am I talking about? That's not something you ask a girl! IDIOT!!!  
  
"Yeah that was awesome" Rinoa's eyes were twinkling like it was the coolest thing in the world that two metasites each of which could have easily wiped out the whole town by themselves had just duked it out and now the body of one of them was lying not five feet away.  
  
"Errr....that's good" IDIOT LEONHART! STOP BEING AN IDIOT!!! WAKE UP!!!  
  
"Yeah" she smiled. I breathed.  
  
"Ummm how 'bout I just leave you two here for a while. I'll go check to see if the transports are here. It's a pretty long walk from this side of Balamb to the Garden so I called for transports." she blushed a little and started walking away.  
  
"I'll go with you." I said it at exactly the same time as Rinoa. STUPID. Damn metasite should have stopped me.  
  
Rinoa giggled and she went red too. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks but this time my metasite did help me keep my cool and I didn't show my embarrassment.  
  
"I'm just gonna go help out with the clean up. See you later." the scary thing is that I was so nervous and I had no clue why. I walked away looking like I had just had surgery on both my legs.  
  
I headed towards where Irvine was turning over cars with a few of the other soldiers. Of course I could hear them well before I could see them. They were just behind a building that had been knocked over.  
  
"Man, that was nuts wasn't it?"  
  
"Yeah, never seen a metasite fight like that before." The soldiers were talking about my fight with Raijin. Nobody dared to go close to Raijin because we all know that a metasite self destructs after death when anything touches it.  
  
"Me neither." Irvine joined in the conversation. I decided I would join Quistis and Rinoa after all since I didn't want them to see me. I needed to think how I would explain this to everyone since news would spread fast and Rinoa would soon know I lied to her. Yeah I was a little bastard, I know. I should've won an Oscar for that performance though. I was so damn convincing.  
  
Irvine was still talking.  
  
"Did you see that control? That power? Holy shit man, never seen anything like it."  
  
"Got that right commander, he's not like any of the metasites we have here. Where did he come from anyways?"  
  
"Uhhh...no idea." hahaha Irvine was a terrible liar. But I guess the soldiers weren't too bright since they didn't question any more.  
  
"But geez...so fast...."  
  
I grinned.  
  
AN: Alright, thanks for all your great reviews. I really appreciate it. Again, sorry for the long update, I'll try to get the next one up sooner. Keep em' coming you guys! 


	14. Chapter 14: It's back to school time aga...

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
AN: Hmmmm looking closer I realized that almost everybody had that problem with the uploading thing =P Guess it wasn't just me after all hahaha Anyways, I decided to upload a little quicker this time to make up for last time =) Enjoy.  
  
Chapter 14: It's back to school time again... Rinoa's POV  
  
I was still shocked by the time we got back into the transports. Quistis hustled everybody into three separate transports and I ended up sitting right next to Squall.  
  
I've never seen anybody fight like that before. Squall was terrifying and strangely beautiful at the same time. It's hard to explain but his movements were so fluent and so quick that it made his blade look like a bright blue blur. When he struck, it was like some sort of dance.  
  
Well, he was cute. That was for sure. Basically, he was PERFECT. Most of my friends don't like metasites because they think it's kinda gross to be going out with guys that aren't 100% human. Personally, I'm not too cool about going out with a metasite either...but I'll make an exception hehe...  
  
Squall was silent, he had his eyes closed and looked more or like he was sleeping. I didn't want to disturb him so I just stared at him. I knew how good metasite senses were. Damn that was so embarrassing when that stupid Raijin guy overheard me!  
  
My eye caught a small shiny thing on his chest. It stuck out clearly since he was wearing a black t-shirt. Looking closer I realized that it was a symbol of some sort. Like a lion and it was attached to a chain that hung around Squall's neck.  
  
Squall's eyes snapped open and I quickly jerked back.  
  
"Ummm....Good morning" I smiled a little. Second time I was embarrassed today!  
  
"I wasn't sleeping." He smiled too. It was funny because when he smiles like that he seems like such a sad and lonely guy. But when he's fighting, there's a feeling you get when watching him, a very bad feeling. When he's fighting, you know he won't even think twice about killing you. That's what's scary.  
  
"Well, I was going to apologize for waking you up but I guess there's no need now." I laughed to shake off that crappy feeling you get after being embarrassed.  
  
"You don't have to apologize even IF you woke me up. I saw you looking at this." he said. He held up the necklace that I was looking at a minute ago. Geez his senses WERE good.  
  
"Yeah, it's really nice." I said  
  
"Thanks. I've had it forever." he replied. His eyes looked like he was staring off into space. The smile had long ago faded from his face. Replaced by the usual emotionless expression.  
  
"Does it have a name?" I said. He looked very sad. Like he was fighting to tell me something but had to stop himself.  
  
"Griever." he just croaked out that one word.  
  
"Oh I see. Griever. It's a lion right?" I just wanted to keep the conversation going.  
  
"Yeah, it symbolizes power and courage." he said.  
  
"Cool...kinda like you." okay, I flirt, sue me. I couldn't help it. I just wanted to make him feel better.  
  
He just smiled and didn't say anything. We were nearing the Garden.  
  
Once we got back, we all had to gather in the Quad. There was supposed to be some sort of special announcement. Selphie sidled up beside me.  
  
"Hey Rinny! Where's SQUALL??? teehee" Gosh, the girl liked gossip more than anyone I ever met.  
  
"I dunno, he ran off somewhere." I said. It was the truth...sort of...I had no idea if he RAN OFF or not but who cares?  
  
"He left you behind? Awww how could he?" she said. And she put on a pout.  
  
"Shaddup Selphie." I could feel my cheeks going red again...they did that about 50 million times today.  
  
Just then, Cid walked up onto the stage followed by Squall. Everyone went silent.  
  
"Guess that's where he went." Selphie whispered.  
  
"Hello students. Today is a very special day for all of us." I could see he had a slight smile on his face. Squall remained expressionless. "This as you all know, is Squall Leonhart. He has been with you for the past four months. But up until today, he has hidden his greatest secret from all of you. Squall is a metasite." well DUH.  
  
Squall now dropped his gaze and his startlingly blue eyes were hidden by his long hair. He looked like he was shy.  
  
"Squall has asked me to keep this fact a secret from all of you. Squall was in the Galbadian army before he came here. He transferred here out of his own free will. I trust him and you should all do the same. I'd like you all to refrain as much as possible from asking him questions or talking to him about his powers. I know that it is hard but that is the way I'd like things to be done around here. Squall will still attend all the same classes and everything will be just the way it was. If Squall chooses to tell you about his past then it is alright. But until then, please treat him the way he was treated before this incident."  
  
Hey! He lied to me! Squall told me he was a renegade! How could he? I hate it when people lie to me and I fall for it. Oh Hyne I was made, all those things I liked about Squall were slowly ebbing away like water flowing out of a punctured cup. Cid was still talking but my mind drifted and I only heard his closing words.  
  
"That is all." he said. Squall and Cid walked off the stage and out the Quad.  
  
"Wow, who would've thought huh? Squall was in the Galbadian army." Selphie said.  
  
"Yeah." I replied. I really didn't feel like talking much.  
  
I broke away from Selphie and headed towards the cafeteria. Because of the battle, we had missed most of our classes. It was lunch time right now so we had about an hour to kill before attending the last class of the day, Weapons Training.  
  
Squall still made me mad. He seemed so sincere when he was talking to me. I felt a sick swoop of anger. I didn't even watch where I was going and I almost ran into the person I least wanted to run into. Squall.  
  
"Oh, hey..." he said. I almost literally bumped into him.  
  
"Hey" I gave him my best death glare.  
  
"You wanna go get something to eat?" he asked. I was mad at him, and I really did NOT want to see him. But, I could ask him why he lied to me. I really didn't give a shit about Cid asking us not to bother him.  
  
"Okay" I replied reluctantly.  
  
We walked the rest of the way not really saying much. I ordered my hot dog and he grabbed a Cola from the fridge. Everyone let him go first in line when they saw him. And because I was with him, I got to cut the line and order first as well. When Squall and I arrived at the cashier, the lady gave him a big smile.  
  
"It's okay, Mr. Leonhart, it's on us. You too Ms. Heartilly." she said. The cafeteria ladies have a special skill...they somehow know every single student's name, it's creepy.  
  
"Thanks but no thanks." Squall said. He placed 10 gil on the table and told the cafeteria lady to keep the change. He paid for my lunch too. We went to an open table in a corner and sat down.  
  
"Corners are the best." I heard Squall mutter. PRAACK  
  
He opened up his Cola and took a sip. Then he looked right at me. Right. At. Me. And his eyes carried that same sad look they did when he wasn't fighting. I was just about to scream at him about lying to me when he spoke.  
  
"Rinoa, I'm sorry." he said.  
  
"W-what?" I replied confused.  
  
"I'm sorry I lied to you. I didn't mean to, really I didn't. I just couldn't let anyone know the truth. I didn't want the attention. Please forgive me." he said. Well, what the hell was I supposed to say to that?!  
  
"It's okay. I forgive you." I couldn't help it. I smiled at him and he did the same back. Then I noticed that there were dozens of students watching us.  
  
"Were they watching us the whole time?" I asked Squall. I never noticed them since I was talking to Squall. He nodded.  
  
RIIING  
  
The bell. It was time for Weapons Training. Squall was in my class. We headed to the area together. Neither of us were in our uniform due to the incident at Balamb so we didn't have to change.  
  
Weapons Training was a class where we fought all out. It was one of my favorite classes because the instructor was nice. Instructor Lane was an older lady but she kept in good shape. She was supposed to be an expert swordsman in her day but she retired now and came to Garden to teach. She knew about all the different types of weapons used at the Garden and was an excellent instructor.  
  
"Alright everyone, I'm not going to work you too hard today because you guys already went to fight that metasite. In fact, I'm not going to teach you anything today. All we're doing today is sparring. I'll be pairing you up with a partner and you'll each get the practice version of your preferred weapon. It will be like a real fight and I don't want any of you to hold back." she said. She seemed to be looking straight at Squall the whole time she was talking.  
  
Instructor Lane moved among us and paired us up. I was at the front of the line so I was basically the first one to be paired. As usual, my sparring partner was Selphie. I saw Squall at the end of the line. He was last to be paired and he was paired with Nida, the best fighter in our class. Now this was going to be interesting.  
  
"Hey Rin, how do you think Squall will handle Nida?" Selphie said. We were lining up to get our practice weapons.  
  
"I dunno. Nida's a pretty good fighter. But I don't want him to get hurt too badly since he's a pretty nice guy." I said. It was true, Nida was a good friend of me and I didn't want Squall to totally kick his ass.  
  
"Okay everyone, you can start now." Instructor Lane's voice boomed out.  
  
Selphie and I found a deserted spot in the Quad and started our duel. Neither of us were fighting really hard. We never did. Eventually, my blaster edge smacked into Selphie's head lightly and her nunchucks smashed me on the nose. We both just fell down onto the floor and sat there watching Squall and Nida fight.  
  
"Well, that's as much as we're gonna do today! Let's watch this fight." Selphie said. She stood up and started walking towards Squall and Nida. I followed.  
  
Both Squall AND Nida had practice swords with no sharp edge. They stood about 4 meters away from each other. Squall had his sword resting at his side gingerly tapping the ground. Nida was in full battle stance, his eyes were focused and intense. Then Nida charged with his blade over his head. Squall still stood his ground as Nida quickly moved in.  
  
4 meters....  
  
3...  
  
2...  
  
SWISH!  
  
Squall shifted back at the last second and the dull blade passed by harmlessly. Nida quickly followed up his attack with another swing at Squall's abdomen.  
  
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! CLANG!  
  
Finally, Squall brought his blade up and blocked a blow. Nida tried a roundhouse slash but was quickly stopped by Squall who snuck in and grabbed Nida's arm. What happened next I'm not too sure. It looked like Squall sort of removed Nida's sword from his hand and elbowed him. Nida dropped like a stone.  
  
Then Squall dropped both his swords and bent down. He reached out a hand and Nida took it and pulled himself up. He didn't look like he was hurt too bad he grinned at Squall and Squall just smiled a little.  
  
Boy, this was gonna make some interesting conversation tonight over dinner hehe...  
  
AN: Thanks for all your reviews, they mean a lot to me. Hopefully I can upload faster now cuz my computer seems to be doing okay. Encouragement and tips on how to improve my writing are greatly appreciated! Thanks! 


	15. Chapter 15: A threat worse than death

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
AN: So sorry everybody, I've been so horribly busy with exams this week that I couldn't find time to update. Thank you all for the reviews of the last chapter. Here's chapter 15, enjoy!  
  
Chapter 15: A threat worse than death Squall's POV  
  
"Where is he? Where is he?"  
  
"Over there! Quick!"  
  
"Oh my gosh! He is SO CUTE!!!"  
  
Damn, I knew it'd be coming. Sometimes having excellent hearing isn't such a good thing...but for some reason, it doesn't bother me as much as before. I don't really care anymore.  
  
Things have already brightened up. People have found out about my metasite identity for roughly a week now and so far, it's been pretty good...aside from girlish comments such as those I just heard. Turns out metasites aren't such a big deal around here. They still have their own groups of friends and such unlike in Galbadia where metasites hung out with metasites and that was that.  
  
However, metasites only show up at break times such as recess and lunch. I've only seen a few of them and I only know one of them personally. His name is Zell, Rinoa introduced me. Zell is hyperactive and people tell me he's the crappiest fighter out of all the metasites in the Garden. I've never seen him fight but judging by the way he handles his hormones, he can't be that good. Still, I've only spoken to Zell twice because most of the time he's out somewhere training with the rest of the metasites.  
  
This particular morning, I was heading to my first class when I caught sight of Rinoa walking alone. My eyes focused and I could see every detail on her angelic face.  
  
"Checkin' Rinoa out again?"  
  
Irvine had "skillfully" snuck up on me. He likes to try to surprise me, it's a little game of his. Of course, if he could sneak up on me then I'd probably commit suicide out of shame. I noticed him coming about 5 minutes ago, I just didn't say anything.  
  
"Nah, I'm not a perv like you." I countered. Actually, I had no idea how he knew I was watching Rinoa. Maybe it's just his own perverted instincts.  
  
"Bullshit, everybody knows you guys are hopelessly in LOOOO-" what an idiot! He literally screamed that out! I stopped him by getting him into a light headlock.  
  
"Shaddup Irvine!" I hissed. "Al-right...le..t.....go!" he choked.  
  
I let him go and he straightened his jacket a little. He looked around to make sure nobody noticed. Lucky for me, Rinoa was almost at the classroom and didn't hear Irvine's loud exclamation.  
  
"Why are you here anyways?" I asked. Irvine didn't hang around the first two levels of the Garden very often. Since he's the highest ranking SeeD here, he's usually off on missions or up in the headmaster's office.  
  
"What? Aren't you glad to see me?" he laughed "I'm just messing around here, nothing much to do. Cid basically let me off the hook today."  
  
"Oh, well I'm going to class. Later." I said.  
  
"Hey, meet me in the Caf at recess, kay?" he said. He didn't even wait for a response and went walking off in the opposite direction.  
  
I entered Quistis' classroom and took my seat across from Rinoa. Quistis wasn't there yet so everybody was talking and fooling around...everyone except me. I just kinda sat there with my head down and resting on the desk. I studied everyone in the room.  
  
Jason and his buddies were in their little corner sniggering and laughing stupidly. Some kid was showing off magic and accidentally lit his bag on fire. Two boys were sitting in a corner playing Triple Triad. And Rinoa was right in front of me surrounded by her usual mass of friends. They were all talking about some chick flick they saw over the weekend. Rinoa looked a little bored because she didn't go to the movie and had no idea what they were talking about.  
  
Rinoa turned and met my gaze.  
  
My reflexes could have easily avoided looking at her, yet...I didn't do it. Why? I didn't know, all I knew was that at that moment, my world stood still for just a second. I just kept looking straight into those big brown eyes that seemed to hypnotize me. Then as quickly as it had come, that strange feeling was gone. It was like someone suddenly jacked up the volume because everything came rushing back to me.  
  
I swear that in all my life, all the fights I've been in, and all the experiences I've had. Nothing, NOTHING, made me feel that way before.  
  
"Good morning class" Quistis had entered.  
  
I snapped out of my trance and began taking notes (Galbadia's rise to power). But subconsciously I kept thinking of that moment. Why? Why did she make me feel this way? Why her? Haven't I had my share of girlfriends? Why didn't any of them make me feel this way before? Do I even like Rinoa? Why should I care?  
  
My head was almost spinning. I may look like I know a lot about a lot of things but once you stray into that dangerous zone where you're dealing with members of the opposite sex, then I'm screwed. I've learned how to manipulate people to my needs by making them happy. Words are powerful and when used properly can grant you many rewards, charm was one of the things they taught me at Galbadia Garden. I had no problem getting girls to fawn all over me. But deep down inside I knew that I didn't care about any of them. I'm actually clueless about all this lovey dovey stuff.  
  
It was almost the end of the class and Quistis stopped us early.  
  
"Okay, I guess most of you already know this but for those who don't, the annual SeeD banquet is coming up this Friday. You must all wear your formal clothes that were part of the shopping list sent to each of you at the beginning of term. Oh and one more thing, instructors cannot be asked to the ball this year." she added the last part with a small grin.  
  
Four days, I had four days to go get my formal clothes. No problem. I can get my shopping done in four minutes, four days is overkill. I started to leave the classroom.  
  
"Squall can I see you for a second please?" Quistis said.  
  
"Uhh yeah sure." I responded. What did she want with me?  
  
"Squall, I know you're new here and you've never been to the banquet. There are a few things you have to know about the banquet that I doubt anyone has told you yet." she said.  
  
How did she know nobody told me yet?  
  
"Okay, tell me then." I gave a short laugh. She made it sound like my life depended on this information or something. I looked at her and saw that she was looking at me with an extremely serious look. It can't be that bad...right?  
  
"Squall, you have to have some formal clothes." no prob got it covered "you have to arrive at the Quad at 8 o' clock sharp." I can set my metasite to remind me "And you have to have a partner." ...a....p-partner?  
  
"W-why do I need a partner? I can go to the bathroom by myself." okay, the joke wasn't very good but I needed to break the tension a little.  
  
"It's a dinner and DANCE dummy. You can't dance by yourself!"  
  
Uh-oh  
  
"Oh...well I don't HAVE to dance right?" she just looked at me with a slightly sad look like she felt sorry for me.  
  
"Right?" I asked again. "Tough luck Squall...find yourself a partner by Friday or we'll either find one for you or kick you out of Garden." she said.  
  
"What??? Kick me outta Garden?! Why?! It's just a dance!" I exclaimed.  
  
"Well, not really. This banquet is a big thing here at Balamb Garden. Officials from the other continents will be coming to this too. This is an extremely important event because we want to show the presidents of the other states how good our Garden is and we want everyone to be there. Plus, without going to the banquet, you're not a SeeD."  
  
Ah crap. Guess I've got to go.  
  
"Okay then, I'll find myself a partner..." I said darkly.  
  
"Good, now you can go enjoy the rest of your recess." she said.  
  
Who was I going to ask to go to the banquet with me? Surely everyone has dates by now. Everybody already knew it was coming so I guess they would have asked people to go with them by now. Besides, who did I want to ask? Well, the little voice in my head kept whispering "You know perfectly well who you'd LIKE to ask hehe". Rinoa was very pretty, a very good fighter, and also (unfortunately) very popular and well liked by everyone. Some guy like Jason would've taken her by now. I hung my head and headed for the cafeteria where I promised I'd meet Irvine.  
  
Irvine was hanging around a couple of the other high ranked SeeDs. As usual he was the center of attention. I just kinda hung around waiting for him to finish making whatever smart-ass comment he was gonna make. When he was done, I approached him.  
  
"You're late!" he said.  
  
"Yeah I know, Quistis was chewing me out about going to this banquet thing on Friday."  
  
He had a grin plastered all over his face and I knew whatever he had planned couldn't be good.  
  
"Why do you want to see me here again? I mean, you could just talk to me when we get home." I asked even though I didn't want to know the answer.  
  
"Well, as you already know about the banquet...then we won't waste any time..." he said evilly.  
  
Crap. Does he think he's helping me?  
  
"Squall, you need help man. And I'm gonna help you. Trust me, you don't know how lucky you are."  
  
"Yeah, I bet I don't" I replied sarcastically.  
  
"You see Rinoa over there?" what? Does he think I'm blind? "Yeah"  
  
"Everybody knows there's a 'thing' going on between you two" he had his perverted look on again "and she doesn't have a partner for the banquet yet." he shot a wink at me.  
  
She doesn't have a partner yet?  
  
"No no no, I'll just get Quistis to pair me up with someone..." I said. To tell the truth I was just shy.  
  
"Come on Squall, you've got to do this! Trust me, you don't want Quistis to pair you up with someone because all the good ones will be taken!"  
  
Good ones??? Man, this guy WAS perverted!  
  
"I don't care."  
  
"Yes you do, now go or I'll suspend you from the Garden."  
  
"Bull, you don't have that kind of privilege."  
  
"Yes I do." he flashed a badge at me. But my metasite eyes could see clearly that it was just his driver's license.  
  
"Nice try."  
  
"Well, Quistis DOES have the privilege and I'm sure she would help me out in a case like this."  
  
"Fine, then go to Quistis."  
  
"No need, she's already here." Irvine said.  
  
Quistis was entering the cafeteria as if right on cue.  
  
"Go Squall, or I'll suspend you and you'll have to go back to Galbadia." she said with deadly venom dripping from her voice.  
  
I sighed and approached Rinoa feeling as if I'd rather fight ten Raijins at once than face this dreadful task. It wouldn't even be so bad if Rinoa was alone. But I guess Irvine and Quistis wanted to see me ask her and get turned down. Their little joke probably...  
  
"Uhhh Rinoa?" I said  
  
All of her friends turned and faced me. I was controlling myself. Controlling myself so that I wouldn't suddenly whip out Lionheart and turn all her friends into hamburger meat because they kept giggling. Why do girls giggle like that anyways? Is it really that funny? "Yes Squall?" she was smiling but (fortunately) not giggling.  
  
"W-wanna go to the banquet with me?" oh Hyne, that was the worst feeling I ever had in my life...the complete opposite of the feeling I got when I looked into her eyes that morning.  
  
Giggling should be a crime damn it!  
  
"Sure!" she said. She sure looked happy. That was not the reaction I expected since my way of asking her out was anything but smooth. But as much as I hated it, I'd achieved what I wanted.  
  
Maybe I should thank Irvine and Quistis...  
  
AN: OK, this chapter was put together from real life experiences by me =P Just like Squall, I'm not great at this lovey dovey stuff so give me some advice please! Thanks! 


	16. Chapter 16: The banquet

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
AN: Hello everybody! Remember me? Hahaha sorry about the slow update. I've been having a terribly tiring couple of months and I didn't have time to write. But I'm cutting the crap and getting straight to the story so please R&R! Thanks!  
  
Chapter 16: The banquet Rinoa's POV  
  
Wow, I didn't expect it but a certain Mr. Leonhart just asked me to the dance! Alright so people keep telling me they knew it was coming and all that stuff but that still doesn't stop me from being all happy-go-lucky right? Right.  
  
Selphie and I went shopping like we do every year for the banquet. I've actually got quite a reputation as "The Little Rejector" because every year I turn down every single guy who's asked me to the banquet. So I guess Squall's gonna get some attention since he's the first guy who's successfully gotten me to go to the banquet with them.  
  
I picked up a nice white dress which was actually too short for my taste but was just right for Selphie. "It's perfect" she says. Of course this is coming from a girl who tailors her SeeD uniform to show as much leg as possible. How does she do it?  
  
Anyways I got back home and my stupid house was SO stuffy. I had no idea why. Until Irene walked into my room and told me the air con was busted and they were getting a guy to fix it tomorrow.  
  
"Why tomorrow? And why doesn't anyone open any windows?" I asked  
  
"Tomorrow because that's the only time he's got. And I have no idea why nobody opens windows around here. It feels perfectly fine to me." she said.  
  
Well of course it feels fine to her! She used to live down south where the temperature was crazy! Well if everybody in this house is mental, I'm not. I unlatched the windows and pushed them open.  
  
CRAAACK!  
  
What the hell was that?  
  
CRAAACK!  
  
It's coming from outside...Slowly I turn around and head cautiously towards the window to peer downwards at where the noise was coming from.  
  
CRAACK! FWAAP! It was from Irvine's backyard. Looking closer I saw that Squall was standing there with his metablade ignited. The arm holding the bright blue blade was covered in that glossy armor. He was wearing the t-shirt that he usually wore under his jacket. I could see the jacket tossed aside onto a nearby chair.  
  
CRAACK!  
  
The speed was incredible. The last time I saw Squall fight with his blade it was from a further distance than this. The blade and his arm moved so fast that all I saw was a bright flash. He was constantly moving on the balls of his feet and shifting as he practiced.  
  
Then he stopped and put away his blade. The armor slowly dissolved and the tendrils slithered away into his skin like snakes. He picked up his jacket and I could have sworn he looked up into my room before moving off.  
  
I turned away from my window after seeing that almost frightening display of power. I'm just so lazy I haven't been practicing my skills for so long that I'm feeling guilty. Well, I swore that after the banquet I'll start practicing again. I'm still getting top grades in school though so that's okay.  
  
Dinner that night was much better than usual actually. It was quite eventful to say the least.  
  
"So the banquet is coming up again." my dad said.  
  
"Yeah" I was practically smiling just at the thought of it.  
  
"Who asked you out this year?" he asked. My dad knows about my little rejection habit.  
  
"Well, Squall Leonhart from next door." I thought my dad would be surprised as hell and not talk for fifteen minutes. Instead he just smiled.  
  
"Ahhh, Squall. I guess the rumors were true then." he said.  
  
"Oh..." I didn't know what to say to that. I guess news travels fast when your dad is the General.  
  
After that I just went up to my room. There were so many things that were spinning in my head. I needed some time to think. First off was Squall. I knew the metasites at Galbadia were good, but our own metasites always managed to take down a few of them. Seeing Squall practicing in Irvine's backyard was a real eye opener. When he killed off that Raijin character, Squall looked like it was no big deal. Were the Galbadians really that strong that they were just toying with us by not unleashing their strongest fighters? Was Squall even FROM Galbadia? Or was he lying again? I had no idea. But I know one thing for sure. It's a good thing he's on our side now.  
  
Another thing was my dad. It's hard to read his thoughts. I don't know if he likes Squall or hates him or anything. And it's driving me crazy! Well, I guess that I'll take it as it is and go with the flow. This banquet's gonna be fun... Well, Squall said he'd come around at 7. The banquet starts at 8 so we'll have plenty of time to get there. It only takes about 15 minutes to walk to the garden. Selphie of course is coming over and helping me dress up and stuff. We did this every year.  
  
"Rin, just leave your hair down. It looks better, seriously." she said.  
  
"You think so?" I wasn't so sure.  
  
"Yeah, for sure."  
  
"Okay then." I trust her judgements, what can I say?  
  
"This dress is still way too short!" I said.  
  
"Nah, it's perfect." she says this all the time.  
  
I kept pulling at my dress to try to get it to go longer even though I know it's useless. An hour of fooling around later, the doorbell rang.  
  
Selphie and I practically flew to the door. Looking through the spyhole I saw Squall's slightly nervous composure. Smiling slightly I opened the door.  
  
"Hey" he said. He was dressed pretty plainly. A black button up shirt with black dress pants and a belt that had a blue marking that I couldn't see clearly. But he looked nonetheless stunning.  
  
"Hello, you wanna come in for a second? We got plenty of time." I said. Selphie was bouncing up and down beside me.  
  
"Hi Squall!" she was so loud.  
  
"Hey Selphie, Irvine's in the car. I'll ask him if he wants to come in or not." he said. Oh so I guess Irvine knew Selphie would be visiting. Squall walked back over to the car and a moment later Irvine exited. Irvine was walking in front and Squall in the back.  
  
"Lookin' lovely Rinoa." he said. And he winked at me. Irvine and Squall were so different. Irvine just marched briskly into my house and hugged Selphie while Squall cautiously stepped in. It was so funny because Squall normally is allowed to just walk into my house. My dad gave him a key and everything. Now he looks like he's constipated or something.  
  
"General Caraway" Squall suddenly saluted. I looked behind me and saw my dad. He looked pretty happy. But with him, you can never be sure.  
  
"At ease Leonhart." he said.  
  
"Good evening sir." Irvine didn't even bother to salute. "You're always at ease." he said with a little laugh.  
  
"I guess we should, uh...probably be going now." Squall seemed a little fidgety. Not his usual calm self.  
  
"Okay then." I said.  
  
We all said our goodbyes to my dad and left. Irvine and Selphie took the front seats in the car which left the back seat for Squall and I.  
  
We didn't talk much, but Selphie and Irvine were non-stop. Mostly consisting of Irvine's perverted comments and then Selphie smacking him hard across the head and telling him to shut up. The car ride did not last long though since the Garden was so close. Irvine parked outside and we walked in.  
  
Squall stood a little behind me just so that he slightly brushed me. I could see Irvine ahead of us and he had his arm wrapped around Selphie and her head was on his shoulder. I guess Squall felt that Irvine was setting a standard or something 'cause he put his arm around my waist. It was quite a shock because the movement was so quick but I quickly got over it.  
  
"Wow, the Garden looks fantastic." I said. The Garden always decorates before the banquet and this year was no different. The water had something in it that made it sort of shine. Big chandeliers hung from the ceiling and silver cloth painted the walls.  
  
We headed towards the Quad where the event was taking place. A tall black man was standing at the entrance. The guy looked like he could dish out some damage. A closer look revealed a badge with the Esthar symbol on it.  
  
"Ticket and ID please." he said.  
  
ID? They never checked that. Why didn't anyone tell me they checked ID? I looked at Squall and he seemed to have left his ID at home as well. Oh boy, we would have to go back home and get them. Luckily we were early so we might be able to make it just a little bit late. But Squall held me back when I was about to leave.  
  
"Can you run a check on the computer for our ID's? We left them at home 'cause we didn't think we'd need them as is the case for half the people here." Squall said.  
  
"Sorry sir, but no entrance without ID. There are dangerous metasites in disguise these days. We can't take any chances." he said.  
  
Squall leaned in close and whispered something to the guy. The guy's eyes widened and he looked at Squall.  
  
"Go ahead." the guard stepped aside. Squall grinned and led me inside. What the hell was that all about?  
  
When we were safely inside the Quad and away from other people I asked Squall.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Oh it's nothing Rin, he's just takes his job a little too seriously that's all." he said. Okay, well Squall is the master of saying something and then practically not saying it at all. But at the moment I didn't bother questioning him any further. We headed towards an empty table only to have Selphie and Irvine join us a minute later.  
  
"Is the guard still asking for ID?" I asked them. I knew neither of them brought ID so I just had to ask.  
  
"No he's not, was he?" Selphie said.  
  
"Yeah but who cares, it's okay now."  
  
The rest of the banquet passed pleasantly enough. Not much talking but lot's of fun and the food was good. It was a buffet with pasta and chicken and salads. I had two helpings of chicken which Selphie thought would make me really fat but I'm one of those people who can eat as much as I like and never get fat... unlike her. Squall ate A LOT. He was usually this way at our house but it's still impressive how much he can eat and still keep that slim a figure. He's not fat at all, I'd guess his weight to be about 140 pounds.  
  
After dinner was the speech and the exchange of gifts. Always the most boring part. But afterwards was the dance.  
  
When the last words of the speech were spoken and the last gifts given, the music started. Irvine jumped up and grabbed Selphie. They were always the most energetic. I looked towards Squall.  
  
"Wanna dance?" I asked.  
  
"Ummm actually...no." he said. I noticed that his gaze dropped to the floor and his usual confident composure now seemed quite nervous.  
  
"Awww why? Is it 'cause you'll only dance with a girl you like?" I teased him only because I really wanted him to dance with me.  
  
"No, that's not it." he gently pulled me over and looked all over the place while he whispered to me "I can't dance."  
  
I couldn't help it, I just cracked up. Yeah I know it's mean but it was just the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. Squall just stood there as I practically laughed in his face.  
  
"You mean to tell me that the most powerful metasite at Balamb Garden can't dance?!" I said while still giggling. I didn't wait for a response and pulled him onto the dance floor.  
  
He danced beautifully. He actually looked like he knew what he was doing. And he said he didn't know how to dance. Bullshit heehee.  
  
When the dance was done we walked back over to our seat. Then the president walked onto the stage and cleared his throat loudly.  
  
"Escuse me everyone. As the banquet is about to come to an end I'd like to say one final thing." nobody was talking at all, it was dead silence. "I'd like to give a toast. To two of the bravest and most respected SEEDs of all time. They acted as spies for us to gather information from Galbadia's databases. I'm sure you all know who I'm talking about. I'm talking about Zone Liger and Emi Caraway Heartilly."  
  
AN: Sorry everybody for the harsh delay time. I've been really busy lately. Hopefully I'll be able to update more often. Another cliffhanger eh? Hehe, well, I'm sure most of you can guess who Emi is by the last name. The story from this point on will take a more serious tone but I don't want to spoil it for you guys! Please R&R! Promise I'll get the next Chapter up sooner! 


	17. Chapter 17: Secrets kept from you

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
AN: I'm going to try to update quicker now that I'm not as busy. Thanks to those who actually took time to review this story, it means a lot to me and it's really what keeps me writing ^_^ Just to let you guys know, this is not as shallow a story as it seems right now and it will be part of a very long saga eventually so please stay tuned!  
  
Chapter 17: Secrets kept from you Rinoa's POV  
  
What was my dad thinking? Is it because it's been three years since Emi's death? Yeah Emi was my sister. She was one year older than me. Emi was also a very strong metasite.  
  
I guess I should fill you in on this story that everyone who was in Balamb three years ago is familiar with. My sister and her friend Zone were one of the few metasites who knew they were metasites at a very young age. That is why they were naturally chosen to be our spies. The most dangerous job that any soldier could have. Emi and Zone were sent to Galbadia Garden when they were both five and trained there their whole lives. Emi changed her last name to Carrelo so that they would not be able to trace her back to my father, Zone didn't need to change his name. They promised me that my sister would return to me in eleven years when she had learnt the Galbadian's secret eleven year training program for metasites which made their metasites superior to ours. Of course, they weren't our only spies but they were our only metasite spies. My mother, Julia Carrelo, was also a spy although not a metasite, she took care of Emi and Zone.  
  
Emi would often give secret briefings back to us about how she was doing. She never seemed like she had any problems especially with mom around. I was confident that my sister and my mom would come back to us. On the day that we had arranged for her to come back, something terrible happened. Nobody knows exactly what happened but we got close enough. Emi and Zone were supposed to rendezvous with us at Dollet along with our other spies. Somehow, for reasons unknown to us, there was a metasite at the scene. We think this metasite is the elite known as Seifer Almasy since he is the only known metasite that would remotely stand a chance against Emi and Zone. The puzzling part is that even Seifer should have lost to two metasites of such a high level. But apparently he didn't. When we got there, all we found were bodies. Lots of bodies. There were no survivors which is why we don't even know what happened. Maybe Seifer just got lucky, or maybe there were more metasites. Nobody knows except for the people who murdered my sister and the rest of them.  
  
Actually, the president was telling this story. Of course my version is much more detailed but he did a good enough job. Obviously everybody already knew this story. I was glad he didn't make a reference to me being in the crowd or anything like that.  
  
I looked over at Squall and noticed a slight spark in his eye almost like that of fear. But he quickly dispatched it and looked at me.  
  
"Was that your sister?" he asked quietly. I nodded, somehow after even after all these years it still hurts me. I could feel hot tears welling up in my eyes. Squall took a napkin and wiped them away.  
  
"Thanks Squall" I said.  
  
"No problem, I'm sorry about what happened." he said.  
  
Then a something hit me! Squall was a metasite in Galbadia at the time!  
  
"Squall, you said you were from Galbadia. I need to know something...Did you know who killed my sister?" I said this very fast because I was so excited.  
  
He hesitated then said to me "I don't know.... I really don't know. They didn't let me in on it and I never asked.... It wasn't a big deal in Galbadia although I know it was over here.... But the guess that you guys have is quite good. Almasy is your best bet."  
  
"D-did you know that Seifer Almasy guy?" I asked him.  
  
"Yeah. I did." he said with almost a grimace. "We used to be friends until he became fiercely competitive...then we hated each other." he let out a little laugh like it was stupid.  
  
"I swear I will one day kill the person or people who killed my sister." I said. It was not the first time that I said that. I told my dad that many times and he said he liked that sort of determination. I don't know why but I expected Squall to say the same thing.  
  
"You're crazy." he said. It hit me like a slap across the face. All this time I've been going on and on to anybody who would listen about how I would kill my mother and my sister's murderer and Squall is the only one who reacted like this.  
  
"You can't win a fight like that. Not against someone who slaughtered an army and two metasites. Just let it go." his advice rang in my ears.  
  
"Squall, I can't believe I'm hearing this from you. I never thought you would be one to 'let go' of things." I said disbelievingly.  
  
"Some things are called reality Rin. Trust me, just let it go." he said it again.  
  
"I will not let it go. You can say what you want but you watch me, one day I will avenge my sister and my mother's death." I was deadly serious.  
  
"Okay, but right now we better get home. Come on, I'll take you on a shortcut." he said.  
  
A shortcut? Well, sure why not...  
  
"Alright, let's go." I told him. Squall and I threaded our way across to the exit saying our goodbyes to people. I told Selphie that we were going to walk home instead of go with Irvine. Turns out I didn't walk at all...  
  
Once we were outside, Squall took my hand and lead me to the back of Balamb Garden. He put a finger to his lips and then I could see in the pale moonlight the familiar tendrils of a metasite. Within seconds, Squall was completely in his metasite armor and the blue markings glowed eerily in the dark.  
  
"Have you ever seen Balamb from the top of Balamb Garden?" he asked.  
  
Oh HELL NO. I had a feeling what he was going to do. HELL NO!  
  
"No and I don't want to!" I said. I was scared to death. I probably didn't mention this...but I have this thing about heights.  
  
Squall didn't even say anything. In a movement too fast for the human eye to catch, he dashed towards me, lifted me up and then using the boosters on his back, jumped. I have to admit, it was a wonderful feeling with the cool night wind blowing through my hair. It didn't freak me out nearly as much as I thought it would. But then he landed and I looked down. Bad idea. Never, NEVER look down.  
  
I almost fainted, we were so high up that the people leaving the Garden looked like small toys and the cars looked like cockroaches. I held on tight to Squall.  
  
"Don't look down. Look over there." he pointed out to sea. And then I saw it.  
  
I never knew Balamb looked like that at night. It was so pretty with lights of every color that illuminated the shore. The water around Balamb looked like it was dyed many different colors by the glow of the town.  
  
"Wow." I said. Oh give me a break, it was all I could think of!  
  
We both sat down on the top of the Garden. I never noticed how big the roof was. It was sloped but it was so huge that we could sit on it like it was flat.  
  
"Hey I got a question for you." Squall said.  
  
"Yeah?" I think I could guess what question it would be. And I really didn't want to answer it.  
  
"How come nobody mentioned your sister to me before?"  
  
There it was. I was wondering when he would ask that.  
  
"I'm sorry Squall. I wanted to tell you before. But it still hurts to talk about what happened to my sister and my mother. They were practically the only women in my life aside from Irene. We stopped talking about it because it was so tragic. Nobody in Balamb mentions it anymore, in fact, tonight was the first time in three years that it was brought up. Maybe my dad just felt that it was time their deaths got honored."  
  
It was the truth.  
  
"The only keepsake of my mother and my sister that I have is the ring that I wear around my neck. I wear it around my neck instead of my finger because that way it shows me that something is not complete. That something is to avenge their deaths. When I kill their murderer I will return the ring to my finger where it will stay." I didn't know why I was telling Squall this. Something inside of me just told me that he should know.  
  
Squall didn't say anything. Because he was still in his metasite armor, it was almost impossible to tell whether he was happy, sad, angry, or anything because his face was hidden underneath the exoskeleton mask. His "face" now looked fierce because of the slanted compound eyes, but they always looked like that I don't know why, but all metasites have that same fierce downward slant in their eyes that makes them look angry all the time.  
  
"Hey Squall, my turn to ask you a question."  
  
"Shoot."  
  
"How come all metasites look angry?" I asked.  
  
I always wanted to know that, maybe he could tell me.  
  
"Oh that? It's because we block the sun."  
  
What the hell was that? I don't get a thing he's saying.  
  
"What?!"  
  
"You see, it's like we always wear a mini hat. There's a ridge above our eyes that shields the sun so the reflection won't screw us over. That's why our eyes always look angry because there's a ridge over them." he said.  
  
Oh, that was it? I would have thought it would be for like intimidation purposes or something.  
  
"Oh I get it. It's getting cold out here." I said. The wind was picking up now that we were so high up and I was still in nothing but that damn short skirt Selphie made me wear. I was literally shivering.  
  
"I can't feel it but if you say so, let's go."  
  
He picked me up again and lightly hopped off the side of the Garden. I shut my eyes tightly and buried my face into his chest plate. It felt oddly warm, maybe metasites had internal heating or something.  
  
It was a vertical drop of a good three stories. My hair was being blown all over the place. When Squall landed I hardly felt a thing. It was as if he just jumped two steps on a staircase, but you could tell the impact was SUPPOSED to be huge by looking at the surroundings. The place he landed had a crack on the ground and all the rocks and leaves were blasted away.  
  
"I don't like landing that way. Makes too much noise." he said.  
  
"How do you normally land then?" I was curious.  
  
"With these big ass boosters on my back. Haha, they soften the landing so that there's not as much of a boom."  
  
I was impressed. In fact Squall could probably teach our class a lot more about metasites than Quistis!  
  
We walked the rest of the way home. Squall took off his armor, gave me his jacket, and then put his armor back on.  
  
"It's pretty cold out here, but I can't feel a thing when I'm in here. You might as well take the jacket." he said. I thought that was pretty sweet coming from a guy who doesn't even know how to dance.  
  
I arrived home at around eleven o' clock and was greeted by my father who had just gotten back from his meeting.  
  
"Dad, I need to talk to you for a moment." I said.  
  
"It's about Emi isn't it?"  
  
How does he know these things?  
  
"Yeah it is. You gave the president the OK for that speech he made today right?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Rin, you know it's been three years. I miss them...it's been nagging at me for quite some time now how they don't get the recognition that they deserve. Before you say something, listen to me, I know you don't like it when mom and Emi are brought up again but I felt that it was time." he said.  
  
Fine, but one thing didn't tie in at all with his 'I miss THEM' story.  
  
"You miss THEM don't you? If you missed THEM so much then why the hell did you only get the president to mention Emi and not mom as well?!" I was getting angrier by the moment. I specifically told my dad three years ago that I did not want him to ever bring this up again because it would cause too much pain and suffering.  
  
"Because if I brought mom into the picture then you would get all that attention that you don't want. But by limiting it to only Emi and Zone, then the link to you is much less. I'm sorry honey but I wanted them to be respected tonight and if it hurt you that much then I'm truly sorry."  
  
I didn't know what to say. I knew dad didn't want to hurt me and deep down inside he probably feels worse about mom and Emi than I do since he actually knew mom for a much longer time than I did. I was washed with feelings of guilt and I hugged my dad tightly.  
  
"I'm the one who should be sorry."  
  
AN: More of an informational chapter than anything, although there was a bit of Squinoa in it =) Thanks again to my reviewers, hoping for more reviews as this story gets going again. Please don't stop reading because of my delay!!! Thanks! 


	18. Chapter 18: Betrayal

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
AN: Thank you guys all for the reviews! And once again sorry for the (somewhat) long delay from the last chapter =P Had three tests so I had no time to write. But hopefully this chapter will make up for it. But beware, this chapter reveals the real story. I won't say anymore than that! Just read and see for yourself!  
  
Chapter 18: Betrayal  
  
I was tired. The night didn't seem very long and get back to Balamb was not hard work. But damn...I was tired.  
  
Tomorrow would be the big day. The day in which everything went to pieces. This whole new world that I have just become so accustomed to would be gone and everything would return to normal. Due to security reasons, I could not say anything about this before to anyone. But it's already too late for anyone to do anything so I can reveal everything.  
  
What was true may not be true anymore. My life is full of lies and everything I do is for a purpose. I left Galbadia not by jumping out the window of my room. A high-tech place like that would not simply allow an elite to escape. I was sent to Balamb by Galbadia's highest ranked people. I was the best that Galbadia had, the best that ANYONE had and because of that, I had a very important job. I had the most important job of all.  
  
I was to end the war once and for all.  
  
My mission? Gain access to Balamb Garden, rise amongst their ranks, find their secrets and then rendevous with two other metasites and finish Balamb off from the inside out. It was a flawless plan. I had enough power to charge straight into Balamb and destroy everybody, but that was not the plan.  
  
Balamb Garden always excelled in weaponry. Their weapons have always been better than Galbadian weapons. The only advantage Galbadia had was the superior metasite squads. To gain total power, Galbadia must have Balamb's weaponry and Balamb must have Galbadia's metasites. That explains the spies that Rinoa told me about.  
  
Little does Rinoa or anyone know that I am the Galbadian spy. Why would I always go over to Rinoa's house? I'm not exactly the social type. I knew Cid would place me in the custody of one of his best SeeD's. Turns out I was right again. I lived with Irvine Kinneas and just my luck, General Caraway lived right next door.  
  
I go into Caraway's house and gain information on the most recent weapons of Balamb. He keeps them locked up in a safety vault but it's no problem for a metasite to crack it.  
  
Staying with Irvine helps me see how a top SeeD trains. Unfortunately, Irvine is really lax with his schedule and it is harder for me to keep a tab on him. Most of the time I have down his exercise schedule and his training routines for the day. With this program, Galbadia's soldiers will be much stronger and can match Balamb's standards. Coupled with the weapon designs that I have memorised, Galbadia will crush Balamb.  
  
Tomorrow, I will fight and I will win. I will finally finish what I came here to do. But something has been nagging at me lately. And it's not good. Not good at all.  
  
Do I care about these people?  
  
All the people I've met since I've come to Balamb. Irvine, Cid, Quistis, Selphie, Caraway, Nida, Zell, and most importantly Rinoa. Do I care about them? They don't seem as bad as what I was brought up to think. I had fought countless battles against Balamb and slain tons of their best soldiers. Was I fighting the wrong enemy?  
  
And about Rinoa...I feel something. I don't know what it is. It's not making me comfortable but at the same time...I can't help being drawn into it. Is this love? Am I falling in love all over again?  
  
I can't...I can't do this, not with Rinoa. She doesn't deserve me. Even a shit head like that Jason guy is better than me. I have too much blood on my hands that I cannot wash and I shouldn't let her get close to me.  
  
Should I kill tomorrow? I don't know anymore. Maybe I should let Fujin and Raijin do the killing. That's right, Raijin. He's not dead. I mentioned before that I could strike with pinpoint accuracy and that fight with Raijin was staged. If people payed close enough attention, they would have known that I haven't killed for three years. I have given the illusion of killing by striking at large nerves that produce lots of blood but clot quickly. In times I have let others do the killing for me. But never in three years have I killed anybody. I guess everybody has a breaking point. I reached mine three years ago when I killed my last victim. I knew it. Right at that moment, I knew that I could not go on killing. I don't know how to explain it. It's like one minute you kill and one minute you don't.  
  
My mission is to kill. I've been hiding the fact that I haven't killed and now I will probably have to shed blood again. I don't know if I can do it.  
  
PING! My metasite woke me up. It was 6:30, an hour before I usually wake up. I had to get a good night's sleep but it was hard. I had way too much to think about last night and it just wasn't sitting well in my head. In Galbadia, all the metasites learned to sleep anywhere at anytime yet remain totally cautious so I eventually got to sleep.  
  
The reason I woke up so early was because I had to check and double check everything. It's a habit of mine before any fight. Of course mock fights like the one Raijin and I had didn't count, but a real fight is different.  
  
I called the armor around my arm and grabbed a piece of adamantine from a pocket in my jacket. My right arm had an extending blade with a razor sharp edge to it. It's my secondary blade just incase I lose Lionheart. My secondary blade could extend to a length of two and a half feet and was attached just above my arm so that to remove it, you'd have to remove my arm as well.  
  
Unlike a metablade, this blade was solid and had to be sharpened. Because I hadn't used it for so long it had become dull. I extended the blade to it's fullest and ran the adamantine along both sides of it slowly then quicker making sparks fly out of the end of the blade. Irvine would not hear me because he's the deepest sleeper I've ever known.  
  
Next I checked my shoulder blade, a three foot long curved blade the extended from my shoulder down to my arm. I have an extra muscle on my metasite armor that allows my shoulder to move which creates angles for me to cut from. I took the piece of adamantine and ran it once really quick down the blade.  
  
Finally, I checked all my ranged attacks. There are two "shells" on either side of my collarbone. These "shells" can open up and inside is a small biological cannon which fires charges equal in power to a heavy machine gun but can be charged or fired rapidly. I use these energy weapons mostly as backups since I prefer to fight close or use stronger blasts emitted from my hands.  
  
Lionheart did not need checking. A metablade does not get dull and is almost impossible to damage. The weight will never change and the grip molds immediately to my hand. All metablades also have a neat feature. The particles that make up the blade do not stick to anything, therefore, you never have to clean it and blood and gore will not get in the way of your strike.  
  
I was ready. I got up and left my room heading into the kitchen. I fixed myself something simple, toast with some butter and eggs and bacon on the side. I was already eating when Irvine woke up.  
  
"The hell? Why're you up so early?" he asked.  
  
"Just felt like it I guess...There's still a piece of toast in the toaster if you want it." I said.  
  
He strolled over to the toaster and took out the toast. He just had to put some raspberry jam on the thing, it's his favorite so basically the whole damn fridge is full of raspberry jam.  
  
"I'm heading up to the Garden with you today. I gotta talk to Cid about some stuff." he said.  
  
"Oh yeah? What kinda stuff?"  
  
"Ah nothing much, just some small raids by some renegade metasites around the area." he said  
  
I nodded my head. For a split second I thought they might have found out about me but by the tone of voice he was using I could tell that he had no clue. My hand was shaking as I was cutting up the eggs. I was so confused I didn't know which side was right and which side was wrong.  
  
"Let's go." said Irvine shoving the last piece of toast into his mouth.  
  
I hastily gobbled up the rest of my breakfast and put on my jacket. I checked that all my equipment (which wasn't much) was packed. Then we headed to the Garden in Irvine's car. I looked at all the buildings around the town. They were so pretty and I could visualize them burning and being destroyed because of me. I would change history, Balamb might not even exist after what I was about to do.  
  
Then I thought back to all the awards I've won and everything I've been doing in my life. It all seemed to lead up to this moment, this one moment was what I've been working for all these years. My head was telling me to finish this and gain glory from Galbadia and everybody by ending this war. But my heart was telling me otherwise...  
  
We arrived at Balamb and I went to my locker which was situated in the worst possible place to have a locker because I came to Balamb later than everyone else so naturally they stuck me in the only place left. I was in this little corner next to the training center. I gathered up my books (Balamb: The Historical Evidence, and Tactics and Strategy: All you need to know) and headed to Quistis' class. I walked the hallways and noticed every face that I passed by. My metasite saw everyone and linked them with names I had seen in the yearbooks Rinoa leant me. Rinoa...just the thought of her made me shake with guilt. How many times had I betrayed her already? She should be the person I lie to the least. Yet I lie to her the most.  
  
I got to Quistis' classroom and walked in when the class was still relatively quiet. Quistis herself was busy with some student asking for extra help. I took a seat in the back corner of the class and waited while the rest of the people filed in. I scanned each one of them, their names, their faces, their personalities. I noticed everything.  
  
When Rinoa walked in, she saw me, blushed, and looked away. I felt a chill go up my spine due to what I was going to do.  
  
At that moment, Raijin and Fujin would be waiting hidden in the forests outside Balamb Garden. Another reason why metasites were so dangerous is because you don't need a whole army of metasites. You only need a small squad and because of that, it's impossible to track metasites on radar. The guards on the Balamb Garden walls would not see Fujin and Raijin and they would be dispatched before they could sound alarms.  
  
Everyone in Garden would go to the Quad in their first class today. It was "cleanup day" in other words, it's a day where the students clean up the mess that was left after the banquet. The instructors and Headmaster Cid would be there supervising everybody and generally slacking off. Then at the end, the Headmaster would give a little speech telling everybody how good a job they had done and that sort of thing. Galbadian spies had already figured out all this information and figured that this day was the most effective to strike on since everybody was in a central area. "Alright everyone, settle down. I want a nice even line starting here and the last person has to close the door. We're heading to the Quad." Quistis' voice rang out in the classroom. It was time for "cleanup day".  
  
I walked in silence. I was just focused on my mission. I knew in less than two hours, this place would be under Galbadian control.  
  
We reached the Quad and saw some students carrying tables and folding chairs. I singled out Headmaster Cid, he looked so happy. Way too happy. He didn't know that his demise was near.  
  
It was definitely a good plan. Probably the best plan anyone had ever concieved. Only a genius could think up of something like this. That genius was a certain Dr. Odine, a master tactician and strategist. I admit, the man was a little messed up in the head but if he set his mind to do something, it was top notch. He sort of went into these trances sometimes and would produce flawless strategies every time. This was his greatest achievement.  
  
I was packing up some tables and stacking them onto a movable trolley when the attack came. A deafening blare reverberated through the Quad and people started looking around frantically and covering their ears. Then a voice came out on the P.A. system.  
  
"All SeeDs! This is an emergency! Get everyone out of the Quad NOW! All metasites to south entr-"  
  
It cut off with a soft but quick gasp. I knew the security guy had been cut down by either Fujin or Raijin. Probably Fujin since Raijin would have smashed the system as well. I looked around and caught a glimpse of Rinoa in the crowd. She had a terrified but determined look on her face and she was drawing her weapon. I wanted to tell her to get out of there, but I couldn't get to her.  
  
People were going crazy. Some were screaming and some were gearing up for a fight. Fools. They had no chance, with me and the other two metasites inside the building, they could not win. Three metasites that I didn't know were heading for the exit trying to get to the north entrance when the exit suddenly burst open. Raijin was standing there along with his partner, Fujin.  
  
Raijin and Fujin's metasites were like night and day. While Raijin's metasite was spiny and aggressive-looking, Fujin's was quite subdued. It was a pale blue in color with white highlights here and there. Her armor was also very round and sleek. But to underestimate her is a big mistake. She was definitely a tougher fighter than Raijin due to her skill. She carried a mid-length curved machete that was great for slicing and carving.  
  
The three Balamb metasites stood their ground and readied their weapons. One of them was slender and small in build and carried twin knives. Another one looked to be a cadet since he was shaking a little. Nevertheless he carried his broadsword with a steady hand. The last one looked as if he was the most experienced fighter out of the three. He stood with his cutlass held out in front by one hand while his other lay relaxed by his side. Then the cutlass-wielding metasite let out a sudden blast of energy at Raijin. The blast shattered the surrounding glass and streaked towards Raijin at the speed of a bullet. Raijin jumped out of the way and dashed at the three metasites.  
  
The fools would have stood a better chance if they were spread out more. My previous hopes for the cutlass wielder were quickly dispatched when I saw him charge Raijin head on. Raijin ducked under his swinging cutlass and brought his serrated blade firmly across his chest cleaving him almost in half. The haze of red metasite blood poured across the battlefield as the remaining two metasites attacked. The greenish yellow metasite with the broadsword hesitated during his swing and Raijin parried it. Because of the weight of Raijin's sword, the broadsword was swept cleanly aside.  
  
But Raijin didn't have time to kill him because the smaller cream colored metasite attacked him from above and below with the daggers. Raijin boosted out of the way and used his sword to take the barrage of attacks. Then Raijin released one of his nova blasts and rocked the metasite back. He finished up with his blast with a well placed swipe of his sword and decapitated him. The remaining metasite was still standing but he was shaking again.  
  
Raijin laughed and boosted up to him knocking his sword out of the way then grabbing his head with one hand. Raijin lifted him up and drove the sword through his chest.  
  
This all took place in about a minute and Fujin was just standing by the exit nonchalantly. They both saw me and gave a quick salute before turning their attention to other victims.  
  
Quistis came up to me and yelled at me.  
  
"Squall! Go fight them! Go!"  
  
"Yes Squall, please, we need you now." It was Cid. Cid's voice was calm and collected even in such a time of crisis.  
  
Raijin and Fujin weren't doing anything except for blocking the exit. They were waiting for my move.  
  
I initiated my metasite armor, feeling the tendrils bore into my skin and then the armor plates attaching. Then in a swift movement I knocked Quistis aside and had Lionheart directly over Cid's throat...  
  
AN: Sorry for the cliffhanger!!! But had to do it, it's for dramatic effect. Yup, this is the chapter where I turn the whole story around. Been waiting to write this chapter for a long time! What will Squall do? You'll have to wait! I hope you like it, and if you don't, keep reading! Don't let one depressing chapter turn you away from the story, k? Please Review! Thanks! 


	19. Chapter 19: Fire and wind

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
AN: Here it is, Chapter 19. Sorry for the cliffhanger in Chapter 18 =P But it's for the suspense so you guys will keep coming back! You guys are the best and at the end of this chapter I'm gonna give shout outs so stay tuned!  
  
Chapter 19: Fire and Wind Rinoa's POV  
  
I stood rooted to the spot. My heart felt like it was shattering into a million pieces. I hoped it wasn't true. I willed myself to believe that Squall was just faking it.  
  
I wasn't stupid. The moment Squall whipped out Lionheart I knew what was going on. I put two and two together and saw the answer clearly. Too clearly.  
  
I knew Squall wasn't faking it. The two metasites guarding the door were laughing. Their plan had worked. It was too well planned out to have gone wrong. Impossible for us to see it coming. The only thing that would have given it away was...Squall.  
  
Squall was the thing that could have ruined it all. But after that fight with Raijin he convinced all of us that he was on our side. After all, he saved all of our lives...Only to slaughter us plus the rest of Balamb. How could we have let our guard down so easily?  
  
Another question was how Raijin survived that fight with Squall. I remember the scene and I remember seeing Raijin with his control orb cut and blood spilling everywhere. In fact, he bled so much that the whole battle scene was covered in a yellow mist. So how the hell did he survive? That was bothering me.  
  
It was also bothering me how Raijin took down three metasites at once. First of all it sickened me...I wanted to throw up. Those were people I knew and the way he butchered them made me feel like there were snakes slithering up my throat. Some people in my class were actually hunched over throwing up already but I willed myself not to die looking weak so I prepped myself for battle. But barfing was the least of my worries. If Raijin did that to metasites, then he would turn all of us into hamburger meat in a matter of seconds.  
  
And what about that other metasite? She didn't look as deadly as Raijin, that's for sure. But the cool way in which she handled herself sent shivers up my spine. It gave the impression that she didn't even have to step in to take us down. Almost like she was a backup.  
  
Well, one thing I didn't have to worry about was Selphie. She ran off to the bathroom just before the attack. I can only hope she's not in trouble.  
  
Anyways, Squall was still holding his sword's tip up to the Headmaster's neck. Why didn't he attack yet? He didn't LOOK like he was hesitating. His arm was steady and he had his eyes focused on Headmaster Cid's throat. The Headmaster had a weird expression on his face, a mixture of awe and anger I'd say.  
  
"Come on Squall. Let's finish it, ya know?" Raijin said.  
  
"QUICKLY"  
  
The unknown metasite spoke that one word loudly and clearly. Her voice seemed dark and dangerous contrasting greatly with her lightly colored armor.  
  
Squall's eyes darted towards them and fixed them with a penetrating stare.  
  
"Get it over with, ya know?"  
  
What is up with that guy and his "ya know's"?  
  
"NOW"  
  
Raijin's partner seemed to speak very little but very loud. They were an odd pair. But also a dangerous pair...  
  
Squall still had his gaze fixed on them. Then I could have sworn he glanced at me at that moment but it was too fast to see.  
  
In one swift movement, Squall turned and faced the two metasites and whipped out an open palm towards them. Trails of blue vapor followed Squall's hand and then an impossibly bright flash erupted from the tip of Squall's fingers.  
  
BANG!  
  
The sound was deafening and I covered my ears as well as my eyes. But only for a second. When I opened them I was just in time to see Raijin's partner dash along the wall towards Squall while Raijin himself was on one knee balancing himself with his giant sword and shaking off fragments of what looked like ice.  
  
FWAPP! CLANG!  
  
Squall's blade flashed impossibly fast in front of my eyes and he pushed Raijin's partner back by striking at her sword. She must've unsheathed it when Squall unleashed that beam. Her sword was not very thick at the base but grew thicker at the tip. It had a curved blade and looked wickedly damaging. She held it at her side and waited for Raijin.  
  
"TRAITOR" she bellowed.  
  
"What the hell, ya know?" Raijin said while gasping. Squall just kept his eyes shifting from one of them to the other with his sword held loosely at his side pointed towards the ground. He looked relaxed and was standing straight up, a terrible posture for fighting. He didn't even look like he wanted to fight.  
  
"Listen up, Fujin. You too Raijin, 'cause I'm only saying this once. Get the hell out of here or you're both dead. Oh and Raijin, in case you're so stupid you haven't figured it out yet....This is not a mock fight. I WILL kill you this time." Squall said.  
  
He said it with an unwavering voice. What the hell was he doing? Was he on our side again? I couldn't tell. After what he did to all of us, I wasn't sure if I should ever trust him again.  
  
"Up yours Squall. You're not gonna win, you know? Not against BOTH of us, ya know?" Raijin said.  
  
"FOOLISH" the other metasite, Fujin, said.  
  
Then Fujin used the boosters on her back to quickly get around to the other side of Squall while Raijin charged him head on. I didn't expect it at all. How could they be so ruthless to their own teammate? I didn't know which side I was on. It sure looked like this was going to be a real fight but how could I be sure? That last fight Squall had with Raijin looked like a real fight too.  
  
They were going to sandwich Squall. Fujin had the back and Raijin was already attacking. He swung his huge sword right at Squall's head. It was a blow that would have decapitated any living thing. But Squall ducked and it missed him by inches.  
  
FWAPPP! FWAPP!  
  
My eyes couldn't track the movement. All I saw was Raijin suddenly stumble back as if he was hit in the chest by a semi going 200 mph. Fujin also hit the ground hard but quickly gather herself back up and hold a hand to her face like she had been slapped.  
  
"First one's a warning." Squall said. "Next time you won't be hit with the blunt side of the sword. You're just lucky I still follow the code."  
  
What's he talking about? What code? Unfortunately, I didn't have time to debate these questions because my mind was occupied with a lot more junk at the moment. What junk you ask? Well, there was the fact that I STILL didn't know who to trust. And me wondering if I should take the opportunity to get the hell out of there like some people were trying to do even though Raijin had sealed the door shut by melting the frame with some sort of heat wave. And the most recent thing that racked my brains. What Squall just did.  
  
Squall didn't even have his stance ready or his blade up. I didn't see him attack. All I saw was a bright flash on blue and then Raijin's stumble and Fujin getting knocked down. Squall now held his blade at shoulder's length but the attack was so fast that my eyes seemed to miss the part where the blade was supposed to move from one point to the other.  
  
I knew Squall was good. But this was just ridiculous!  
  
Fujin was getting ready to attack again and Raijin had already started moving forward when they both suddenly stopped in their tracks and put a hand up to the side of their heads. It was like they were listening to something. Probably a walkie talkie sort of device imbedded in their ears. They were both still and glaring at Squall and nodding a little bit.  
  
"LEAVE" said Fujin.  
  
"This isn't over, ya know? You're going to regret siding with Balamb, ya know?" said Raijin.  
  
Then Fujin held a hand to the ceiling of the Quad and blasted a clean hole in the solid steel of the Quad. The duo then retreated amidst falling debris and quickly vanished from sight.  
  
I didn't know whether to slap Squall or give him a big hug...So I decided to do both.  
  
Squall was slowly removing his metasite armor and his face became visible again. He was pale and his eyes were staring blankly ahead. I still didn't know whether or not I should even approach him but something inside of me assured me that it would be okay. So I cautiously walked towards Squall and was overcome by a sudden and overwhelming anger which I have never before felt.  
  
I ran towards him and he looked at me. I could see sadness in his eyes but I didn't care. He had betrayed us. He had betrayed me. I ran at him and slapped him cleanly across the face (damn that felt good!). And he just stood there.  
  
"Why did you let me do that?" I asked. I knew that I was way too slow to actually hit him had he not wanted to be hit.  
  
"I deserved it." he said.  
  
Then it was as if everything that happened before melted away into nothingness. Because I looked into his eyes and I saw the warmth and caring that was in those pale blue orbs. And I felt both sad and happy. A very weird feeling if you have never felt it before.  
  
I was just about to give him a hug when he stopped me. He stopped me before I could hug him and feel him close to me. He just looked down and in the softest of whispers said.  
  
"I can't."  
  
And he walked away with all the eyes of the people in the Quad fixed on him. About two seconds after he walked out of the exit, Selphie burst in supporting a battered looking Irvine with a bad leg.  
  
"WHOO HOO!!! We kicked their ASSES!" she said with this huge grin which was totally unfitting for the time since everyone was either helping the wounded, concerned/worried/scared of Squall's condition, or doing both.  
  
It was then that I realized what I felt on my hand when I slapped Squall...cold sweat.  
  
AN: Okay! Finally finished this chapter! For those of you wondering when this story is gonna end...it's not gonna end for a very long time =P Good thing right? So you guys have more to read? Anyways, shout out time! Haven't done this in a while.  
  
Lugia-mew: Rinoa's here now! Glad you like the fic. I'll try to update at least once a week.  
  
remote mine: *insert evil laugh* I was hoping the plot twist was big enough that people would not see it coming lol  
  
huh: sorry about the turn of events =( But don't worry, it IS a Squinoa after all! Just wait and see!  
  
zornoid1: well, if you read the previous chapters carefully, you'll notice a lot of subtle hints I dropped here and there about Squall being a spy (like his little talk with Martine in the morning, think about why Martine would ask him to his office for no reason ~_^)  
  
Ari-Morrigan: thank you! That's quite a bit of praise there! I know cliffhangers are evil so I'm trying to cut down on them. I just couldn't resist though...  
  
CTHKSI- Oh this story is far from the climax! In fact, I'd say this is just starting the rising action! I know there's quite a bit of lying in the story *sweatdrop* but I wanted to give it a realistic feel. People lie a lot in real life lol And this story won't be resolving in a LOOONG time (hopefully). *eats cookie* Thanks!  
  
Okay that's about it! I appreciate all your reviews and I'll try to put in shout outs more often! Oh and might as well tell you guys in advance...I'm going to be writing a prequel on this story very soon which will explain A LOT of things (Squall's life in Galbadia, how he trained as a metasite, etc. etc. etc.) and even if it doesn't sound very appetizing, give it a chance! I'm very excited about writing it and I think it'll be even better than this fic. Plus, this fic really can't continue without the prequel so I guess you have to read the prequel if you want the rest of the story to make sense. The prequel is actually just an add on to this story so it's like reading more chapters of this story (hard to explain). But I'll let all of you know where to find the prequel when the time comes and you can read from there! Take care! 


	20. Chapter 20: Darkened past

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 in any way and all the characters from the game are not mine.  
  
AN: A HUGE thanks goes out to the four of you who reviewed (shout outs at the end) To all those who didn't review...well, if you read the story and you didn't review 'cause you didn't like it, please leave a review. I just wanna know why you didn't like it =) Constructive criticism is always welcome. (NOT FLAMES). Here it is, chapter 20. This is the last chapter for now. After this chapter, I would like to direct your attention to a new fic I will be writing. It is the prequel of this story and it'll tell you all you need to know ~_^ Trust me, the story cannot continue without the prequel.  
  
Chapter 20: Darkened Past  
  
I got lucky. They backed off at the last second. I didn't know if I had it in me to kill them and feel the horror of killing somebody again. These are my principles and I have stuck by them for the longest time. When I make plans, they are very concrete. Nothing changes.  
  
I scared myself when I fought Fujin and Raijin. Why? Because I blatantly ignored my principles. I have never done something like that before. Never. So why did I do it? I know exactly why.  
  
I had every intention of killing Cid. Really, I did. I wouldn't be the one to kill him, but I definitely had my mind set that by the end of the day, Cid would be a dead man. Right now my three most important principles are simple. Following all orders without hesitation is what I believe in. It is my life's principle. What I have built myself around.  
  
The second principle is more recent. The oath I swore to myself about never taking another life. I've stuck to both these principles like glue. But when I was about to turn Cid over to Raijin, I couldn't do it.  
  
I saw Rinoa.  
  
I'm afraid. Because I almost disobeyed all of my principles. All of them. But so far, I have only disobeyed two. What's the third one you ask? The third principle is that I could never, NEVER, fall in love with anyone ever again. And I think I broke it...  
  
When I looked at Rinoa today, I felt something inside me that felt like there was a lobster in my stomach trying to rip it open with it's claws (don't ask why it's a lobster). I couldn't control myself. Before I knew it, I had turned on my comrades and sided with Balamb.  
  
I heard footsteps outside the house. My metasite hearing could hear an owl flap it's wings from 200 yards away. No way was I missing loud footsteps. Judging by the sound of the footsteps, the person was probably a lightly built male around 120 to 130 pounds. Whoever it was, they had just arrived and was knocking on the door. Irvine let him/her in.  
  
I was already tensed up for a fight. I guess I've sort of become paranoid after the fight and became prepared for any assassins. I loosened up when I heard Zell's voice. "Hey Irvine" greeted Zell. I didn't know Zell too well, he was a metasite as well and apparently a very weak one. He was a good friend of Rinoa's and therefore hung out with her group of friends a lot.  
  
"What's up Zell?"  
  
"I'm looking for Squall. Is he in?"  
  
What? Why the hell would Zell be looking for me out of the blue? Sure, he could be considered a friend of mine, but when did he ever come looking for me?  
  
"He's in, but I haven't talked to him since...you know...you can try, but whatever happens to you, it's not my responsibility." Irvine said. He let out a grim laugh.  
  
"Alright. You sure he's in? I can't here a thing up there..." he said.  
  
"Yeah I'm sure, I know when he's in." Irvine let out another little laugh.  
  
I really didn't want to be bothered at the moment so I slowed my heart down and silenced my breathing. But damn Irvine has a knack for these things. Maybe that's why he's the best SeeD in Balamb.  
  
Zell was thumping up the stairs now and I guess I couldn't ignore him so I just opened the door and let him in.  
  
"What do you want Zell?" I said. I made my tone of voice so that it was perfectly clear I didn't want him sticking around.  
  
He just stared at me with this dumbass grin on his face for about five seconds.  
  
"What do you want?" I repeated.  
  
"Well...that was just really cool what you did to those two guys today!" he just blurted it out.  
  
"If that's all you're going to say, then get the hell out."  
  
"No, it's not all...I just wanted to know how you did that." he said.  
  
Well, that certainly caught me off guard. I didn't even know what he meant.  
  
"What are you talking about? Do what?"  
  
"You know...take out the other metasites...I'm a metasite myself and I didn't even catch your movements...how did you do it?"  
  
OHHH that's all he wanted to know...How am I supposed to tell someone how I do it???  
  
"I don't know. I just...do it."  
  
Okay, maybe it was a crappy description...a VERY crappy description. But I really had no idea! Honest!  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Why do you wanna know?"  
  
"Er....well...I kinda...it was just really cool to see you do that...and well, I'm kind of a shitty metasite...I was wondering if you could...like...teach me?" he said  
  
What?! This is just absurd! I mean seriously! Do I look like the kinda guy who would teach someone??? I sure as hell hope not!  
  
"W-w-what?!" was all I could choke out. I was seriously shocked.  
  
"I know it's getting to the point real quick, but...will you do it?" he asked.  
  
There it was, the golden question of a lifetime. Damn it! Of course I wouldn't do it!  
  
"No way. NO FRICKIN WAY." I said. It was firm and clear. But the guy persisted.  
  
"Awww come on man...Please? I'm really getting laughed at and stuff right now. And...geez you're everything I've ever wanted to be!" he said.  
  
The guy had determination, that's for sure. But he didn't seem to get the point. I had to make sure he got it. And I had to do it with efficiency.  
  
In a lightning quick movement, I ignited Lionheart and whipped the sword at Zell holding the blade to his neck so that one twitch would send his head flying.  
  
"Now, either you listen to me, or I'm going to cut you up into little chunks. GET OUT." I said.  
  
"B-b-but...come on man! I wasn't even ready for that!"  
  
"There's no such thing as being ready. In a fight, your opponent's not going to wait for you to be ready." I said then instantly regretted it.  
  
Zell started laughing.  
  
"Thanks for teaching me that. You're a fine teacher!" he said.  
  
"Shut up Zell." I kept my voice calm but I was really angry at the shit head. My blade was steady and still leveled at his neck ready to decapitate him.  
  
"Okay okay, I'm outta here...Sheesh"  
  
I lowered my blade and sheathed it. As Zell walked out of the room he turned around at the doorway and said:  
  
"You know, I really look up to you. All of us do. And we all want to be like you, Rinoa included. If you change your mind, just tell me, kay?"  
  
And then he left. I sat on my bed and gave a sigh.  
  
"You really don't want to be like me..."  
  
I woke up the next morning with the biggest hangover in the world. I felt so bad I threw up seven times in a span of five minutes. Metasites don't get hungover by alcohol. I can chuck wine all day and not get drunk.  
  
I've just had a lot on my mind. It just got all messed up and, therefore, made me all sick and crap like that.  
  
I brushed my teeth and then took a close look at myself in the mirror. My hair was still too long (have yet to cut it) My eyes were bloodshot, and my gaze was all out of focus. I looked (as well as felt) terrible.  
  
Last night, I was still debating whether or not I should leave. Surely everyone would hate me now. Although both Zell and Rinoa have had positive attitudes towards me, Irvine hasn't talked to me and neither has anyone else for that matter.  
  
I decided that I would go to the Garden one last time and tell Cid I was leaving. I caused too much pain and suffering as well as the lives of at least three aspiring metasites. I also jeopardized Cid's life and I felt that I owe it to the man to tell him I was leaving.  
  
But I didn't go in Irvine's car. I went by myself. Using the rooftops and trees around Balamb, I could easily escape traffic and get there faster than most people.  
  
I arrived early. Before everybody else got there. The only people there were instructors, staff, and the headmaster. I avoided everyone's eyes and headed straight to Cid's office.  
  
The secretary eyed me with a mixture of confusion and sadness and instructed me to take a seat.  
  
Within a few minutes she opened up the doors and I entered the headmaster's office. It was dark and had a haunting feeling to it. Although Cid had the blinds wide open, the grey clouds outside cast a gloomy shadow over the whole room.  
  
Cid looked up from his desk at me and he had, curiously enough, a very kind smile.  
  
"Take a seat, Squall." he said.  
  
This was SO not what I was expecting. I was expecting to be in control of this conversation and then leave. Not having him tell me to take a seat. Nonetheless, I still pulled up a chair and sat down.  
  
"Sir, I'm resigning from this Ga-" I said but was cut off.  
  
"Squall, I am not angry at you and neither is anyone else in Balamb. Resigning from this Garden is not going to help you." he said with a solid tone and no hint of amusement in his voice.  
  
He spoke in a way that only a fighter would speak.  
  
"Sir...were you ever a soldier?" I asked.  
  
He was smiling before I finished the question and nodding his head.  
  
"You're a bright one. I was indeed a soldier. I retired thirty years ago in my prime. You didn't think they'd let me be commander of Balamb Garden just for being an only man did you?" he laughed "That's why I'm telling you this Squall. I see massive potential in you."  
  
I let out a short, sarcastic sort of laugh. I couldn't help it.  
  
"Sir, my potential's used up. I've already reached my full potential." I said.  
  
"Not true Squall. There is still potential for you. Maybe not a lot more, but there is still a bit. I can see it in your eyes. You hesitated yesterday when Raijin and Fujin were about to attack the second time. Why?" he said.  
  
That scared me. He knew.  
  
"How did you know, sir?" I asked.  
  
"Like I said Squall, I can see it in your eyes."  
  
"But I was in my metasite armor."  
  
"So? Your eyes are your eyes Squall. And they give you away. Learn to mask them and then you will be at your maximum. That is something nobody can teach you. You yourself must open up and not keep everything bottled up inside like that. Don't be afraid Squall. For now, just go to class. We'll talk again."  
  
That was it. He ushered me away and left me with those words.  
  
Those may seem like confusing words to some, but I knew exactly what Cid was talking about. I must remember to thank him later on and give him a gift or something. Maybe something nice like one of those big baskets full of fruits and chocolate...  
  
But that can wait. I have to find Rinoa right now.  
  
I scoured the halls trying to find her. It was impossible trying to detect her with my metasite since there were so many kids. The Garden is so quiet in the morning before anyone gets there but once the students arrive, it jumbles up my senses and I can only tell if someone's attacking me (which has never happened yet).  
  
Finally after what seemed like a year, I found Rinoa. She was on the second floor and I was on the first but I didn't want to waste time going to the elevator and risk losing her again so I just used the legs of the metasite armor and ran about two stories vertically up the wall and jumped so I landed in front of her. I took her hand and led her to the elevator with people still staring at me 'cause of my little jumping trick.  
  
"Squall, what are you d-" she started.  
  
"We have to talk. Please just follow me."  
  
"Well, you're not really giving me a choice." she said. I saw her roll her eyes.  
  
I led her to a place in the forest which was a nice area surrounded by trees. There was a caterchipillar there but I smacked it away with Lionheart. Caterchipillar's aren't like normal animals, they only really care about there own species. Most other creatures would respect a metasite. But force is needed with caterchipillar's.  
  
Anyway, Rinoa sat on a stump and was tapping her foot impatiently.  
  
"What do you want to talk about Squall? You ran away yesterday." she said with total annoyance in her voice.  
  
"Listen Rinoa. There's still a lot you don't know about me. I'm sorry about what happened yesterday. But listen to me and please, don't interfere until I'm finished with my story even though it may be really tempting. Don't worry about your classes. They are nothing. Now please, just listen, to my WHOLE story."  
  
AN: OKAY! We are finished! This is part one of the metasite story! Thanks for all those who reviewed. Now I'd like to direct your attention to the prequel of this fic. It is about Squall's childhood and his life before this story. Please read it! The title will be "Metasite: Birth of a Hero". Shout outs!  
  
remote mine: thanks for the review. I really appreciate it. And yes, most definitely, GO RINOA! Hahaha I didn't want Rinoa to be a weak female lead in this story lol  
  
Yuleen75: you're a new reviewer! Thanks! I think your English is alright...I can understand most of it. Glad you like the story and read the prequel!  
  
Ari-Morrigan: thanks for your reviews. They always cheer me up! Glad to hear the suspense was effective. If you want to know what's wrong with Squall, read the prequel! (I'm trying to get people to be as psyched about it as I am =P)  
  
Angie: another new reviewer! Two in a week! Hopefully I updated fast enough for ya lol Please read the prequel!  
  
Okay, that's all. Only four reviews for this chapter but they were all great. If you guys want an e-mail heads-up when I post Metasite: Birth of a Hero, then leave a review with you e-mail address or send me an e-mail @ lh_07@hotmail.com and I will send everybody who reviewed an e-mail telling you when the story will be up! Thanks again everybody! 


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